Shinobi of The Rock
by alterego94
Summary: After the Kyuubi attack, Sarutobi decides to send Naruto away. But the caravan gets ambushed by Rock shinobi, and Naruto's missing. Now twelve years later an insanely strong genin from Iwa enters the chuunin exam. And whats with his claybearing sensei?
1. Iwa's New Jinchuuriki

**Summary: **After the Kyuubi attack, Sarutobi realises that Naruto will most likely be hated if he stays in Konoha. Knowing this he decides to send Naruto away to an isolated village on the edge of Fire country. But the caravan sent to the town is ambushed by Rock shinobi and Naruto is missing. The Tsuchikage knowing instantly what Naruto is, sends him to live with one of his most trusted shinobi...Deidara. Twelve years later, at the Chuunin exams, a mysterious Rock gennin team has entered, with a powerful blonde shinobi at their disposal. How will Sarutobi and the rest of Konoha react to this revelation?

* * *

A/N: Alright this is the first chapter of my new story. For the people who have been waiting for this fic I hope this lives up to the expectations. This story is going to have much longer chapters than my other stories(despite the first shorter chapter), since I have noticed readers favor the longer chapters. I actually had to rewrite som of this because of the revealed Yondaime's name. Anyway, let's get to the story shall we?

**Shinobi of The Rock,  
****Chapter 1:  
**_**Iwa's New Jinchuuriki**_

Sarutobi looked down at the young boy in his old bony hands. His wrinkled face crinked up in a smile as the boy cooed and he took him over to the crib he had put in his office. He gently set the infant down. He quietly took out a light blue baby blanket and set it over the small blonde babe, tucking it under the child's shoulders and bottom so that it would stay in place.

The Third stared lovingly down at the child. The baby had deep blue cerlean eyes and a little tuft of blonde hair on the top of his rounded head. His round baby face had little whisker marks on the cheeks, looking rather cute on him, Sarutobi thought. He cooed quietly to himself as he shifted slightly in the blanket. Soon he had fallen asleep under the old man's warm gaze.

The old Hokage sighed as he saw the baby fall asleep. He gently set a hand on the infant's stomach, right above the belly button, where the seal that kept the Kyuubi sealed away was located. "Uzumaki Naruto..." He said softly, "...You carry a huge burden that I would not bestow upon my worst enemy...you will have to be strong to even survive." He took his hand away and reached into his robe, taking out his old pipe. He tossed in some tabbacco and silently light it. He took a deep puff, savoring the bitter taste in his mouth. Slowly exhaling the smoke he took another long look at the child. "You will live a hard life..." Sarutobi shook his head and walked over to his desk, his old joints protesting at the movement.

He sat down slowly letting out a large sigh as he did so. As he took another puff out of his pipe he pondered what he should do about the young Jinchuuriki sleeping in the crib. His first reaction was to do what the Fourth had wished, tell the villagers and have Naruto viewed as the hero that keeps the Kyuubi at bay, but the more Sarutobi thought of this, the more he realised that the people of the village would never think him a hero, especially this soon after the attack when most of the village was still mourning over their lost ones.

No, Sarutobi decided, that would not be the right thing to do. He could try to keep him a secret, but the Third also aborted this course of action. The village would want an explanation and the council had already seen the child. He could outlaw them from speaking of it, but he knew that the council would treat Naruto unfairly everytime they could anyway and their hate would rub off on their children, so that would not work.

He also thought about sending the child away with Jiraiya, Tsunade, or even Kakashi, Minato's student, but then after he thought about it, he decided against it. Not one of them were good parent material. Jiraiya was a pervert and a hit author (Even Sarutobi read his books) and would probably spend more time peeking and looking for whores than actually looking after the child, despite his relationship with the Fourth. Tsunade had major gambling problems and would most likely have a hard time providing for the boy. There was always Shizune, but both her and Tsunade were still suffering from Dan's death anyway. That and Tsunade's hate of Konoha was still at large. Kakashi was also a no go. He was an ANBU captain and would spend much time away from home and he - like Jiraiya - was a pervert and openly read Icha Icha Paradise, Jiraiya's hit novel. Sarutobi did not like the idea of that rubbing off on the Yondaime's only son.

So in the end he finally decided on something. He would have to send the boy away, there was no doubt about that, but there was only one person left who the Third would trust with Naruto. They lived on the outskirts of Fire country now, in a little town laying right on the the Sand/Leaf border.

Sarutobi sat up in his chair and brought out a blank scroll, a feather, and a small ink cartridge. Dipping the tip of the feather into the ink he started to write on the scroll,

_Dear Kaito,_

_I would like to say that I am just sending a letter to say 'hi' and ask what is new in your life, but that would be a lie. I know we have not had the best of relationships in the past, but I would like to ask you a big favor. A monsterous favor. If you accept, I will forever be in your debt. I am not trying to ramble on, I just want you to know the magnitude of this favor._

_I want you to take care of a child for me._

_If you haven't burnt this scroll with a Katon jutsu yet, I will explain._

_This is no ordinary child, this is the only living relative of Minato, he is the last of the Yondaime's legacy (I am assuming you know that Minato died during the Kyuubi attack about a week ago). You may be wondering why I would ask you to take in this boy, because surely the child would be adored in Konoha, being the son of our greatest hero, this is true, except the villagers do not know of the boy's heritage. The Yondaime had many enemies, particillarly Iwa and Kumo. If those villages found out the Fourth had a son, they would do anything in their power to either kill the child or kidnap him and use him against us._

_Besides all of this, this is not the reason I am asking you to take him. The boy would be safe from other villages in Konoha, but the reason I am sending him away is to save him from the village itself._

_Uzumaki Naruto, this is the boy's name, is the container of the Kyuubi no Kitsune. I am sure you know that a biju cannot be killed. The Yondaime sealed the Kyuubi into his own son, sacrificing himself to do so. You have probably figured out my problem by now. The villagers hate of the Kyuubi would blind them and make them hate the boy, there could even be assasination attempts. I would have sent him with one of my students, Jiraiya or Tsuanade, but neither of them are parenting material, I chose you because I trust you and your wife to keep a keen eye on him and to raise him away from the hate of the village._

_I hope you will not let our own personal feud cloud your judgement, this boy deserves a good life; something he will not recieve in this village._

_Send a letter stating your answer._

_I still love you otouto, no matter what has happened in the past._

_Your brother,_

_Sarutobi._

Sarutobi sighed as he finished writing and rolled up the scroll. He really didn't want to ask this of his otouto. He had never been on the best of terms with his younger brother, that was part of the reason he moved away, but he had no other choice.

He called for a messenger and about a minute later a red haired, green eyed young man in a chuunin vest walked in. After giving him the mission details, Sarutobi had him sent to the no name village, to deliver the scroll.

After the boy had left Sarutobi once again walked over to the crib containing the Kyuubi vessel, looking down at the small, innocent blonde that was sleeping peacefully inside. As he thought of sending the child away he gained a slightly disturbed expression.

_I have a feeling, _he thought _That things will not go as I want them to._

* * *

A week later...

On the outskirts of Fire country three shadows danced through the night. They were silent as owls in the night, though if someone were to get close they would meet the deadliness of a viper.

The first shadow, obviously the leader, stopped and held his hand up to stop the other two. He slowly crept forward, passing throw a beam of moonlight as he did so, revealing an Iwa headband, black hair, brown eyes, and a face with identical scars trailing down both sides of his face, probably made by a katana or something of the sort. He silently sneaked forward a few feet. He leaped to the top of a tree and looked ahead for a moment before dashing back to the other two shadows.

They stepped into the open to reveal a young man with blue hair and black eyes wearing a chuunin vest and another man next to him. "Man" probably wouldn't be the right word. The person was a guy but only about twenty, and had long blonde hair. The bangs were combed over to cover one eye, but the other one was a deep brown. He had a skinny and lithe figure, one might even mistake him for a woman, but when angered he could release an impressive amount of power from his thin body.

"What did you see?" asked the blonde, talking to the leader with scars down his face.

"Nothing important, just a genin team with a baby with them, probably on some C-rank escort mission, Deidara-sama." Answered the leader. One might think it was strange for him to address his subordinate with such respect, but he was only the leader because of experience and anyone from Iwa could tell you, you have to be carefull around the rookie jounin Deidara, when angered he tended to turn people into living art...the exploding kind.

"We should probably dispose of them, just in case." the blue haired chuunin added his insight.

"No," said Deidara, "We were ordered by the Tsuchikage to stay hidden until we reached Konoha. If you blow our cover I'll let you face his wrath alone, mm."

"But Deidara-sama," cut in the leader, "We are supposed to hunt down any information on the Fourth and possibly find out if Konoha is weakened enough for an envasion. The kids might not know anything, but I bet you the jounin sensei does. We should disable the genins and interrogate the jounin, we could gain some useful information, and if it is good enough you might get promoted to Hunter nin."

That stopped Deidara from argueing. He'd been trying to get promoted since he had become a jounin. Hunter nin jobs were so much better and he'd have more opportunities to use his precious art.

"Hmm..." the blonde hummed, "I guess we could try it. We better get moving before dawn though, yeah."

The leader grinned.

"Let's go then."

* * *

Umino Iruka was standing watch. He couldn't believe it. His genin team just got their first mission, due to his complaining to the Hokage, and he had to stand _watch_? He hated watch already, how is he supposed to stay awake after they had just traveled ALL day? There wasn't even anybody to keep him company. He could already feel himself nodding off.

Just as his eyes started to droop, there was a whirring sound. His ninja instincts kicked in and he rolled out of the way just as kunai came raining down. He grinned in pride until he notice that the kunai weren't _supposed_ to hit him, just to pose as a distraction. He was now further away from his sensei's tent than before.

He began scanning the area. He may have been the dead last of his graduating class, but that was mostly because of his class-clown attitude, he'd had the highest score in his class on detectory skills.

But even he didn't sense the Iwa nin until he was right in front of him, kunai in hand, ready to gouge his eyes out.

"Shit!" Iruka swore. He didn't have enough time to dodge fully, just enough time to twist his head around so that it was mostly out of the way of the kunai. Not far enough, as the kunai slashed a deep gash across the bridge of his nose, nearly severing it.

The genin ignored the pain as he backflipped, just in time to dodge another slash with the kunai. Now that Iruka had some distance he was able to take a look at his opponent. The man had two scars down his face and pitch black hair and eyes. Iruka's eyes widened when he saw the Iwa headband and he nearly choked.

The Iwa nin smirked at this. "You see my headband? Well thats too bad, we aren't supposed to be detected during this mission, and since you've seen it, I guess I'll have to kill you!"

Iruka backed up and tried to get into a defensive stance, but the Iwa jounin was on him before he could blink. The man swung his fist at the genin, crashing through the feeble defense he put up and sending Iruka flying.

He flipped in the air and landed a few feet back, his eyes wide with fright as he wiped the blood from his busted lip. He had barely seen the guy move. How could he beat someone that was that fast? He realised that he was no match for this man, but settled into a defense stance anyway.

"You really think you can stand up to me, Konoha trash?" mocked the jounin as he charged again. He tried to hit with a spinning kick that was barely dodged by Iruka, taking the initiative, the genin took out a kunai and tried to slash at the man with his right hand. The older shinobi grabbed his arm at the wrist and twisted, making him drop the kunai, and breaking his hand. Iruka cried out in pain, but was cut short as another gloved fist crashed into his face, sending him crashing to the ground. Iruka twisted and managed to avoid landing on his stomach, instead landing on his right side, but as he landed he hit a rock and sickening pop was heard. The genin was able to stifle his scream this time, but he knew his shoulder was dislocated. He brushed away the tears with his good arm and stood up shakily.

"Hmm, still standing?" the nin asked, amused.

"Shut up and fight!" snapped Iruka through the tears that were gathering in his eyes.

This time the man chuckled, "You've got spunk kid, I'll give you that."

He suddenly appeared in front of the genin, his his foot catching him in the gut. Iruka fell to the ground gasping, as the other foot came crashing into the side of his head. The Konoha nin got up and made some seals, albeit very slowly because of his hurt arm and broken hand. When the Iwa nin saw what seals he was making he almost rolled his eyes. As if that jutsu would serve any purpose.

"_Bunshin no Jutsu_!" Ten clones now stood were one Iruka used to. They all dashed for the camp at top speed. Suddenly two birds landed on the ground in front of them and blew up, dispelling the clones and sending the real Iruka flying back. He slowly crawled to his feet.

_What the hell was that?_ wondered Iruka. Just then the other two Iwa nin walked out. _Oh damnit, more of them!_

"You better finish this quick, yeah." said the blonde one, "I'm suprised that explosion didn't wake them up.

The nin in front of him nodded and started slowly walking toward Iruka, grinning all the while. The bastard was _enjoying _this, Iruka realised as he brought out a kunai with his left hand. _I'll take care of that, _he thought.

The man had reached Iruka now, and was just standing in front of the genin, total confidence in his aura. "It's been fun kid." the man said as he got out a kunai of his own. Iruka closed his eyes. The nin shoved his kunai toward Iruka, stabbing him right through the chest.

Suddenly he puffed into smoke and a single kunai fell to the ground. The Iwa jounin's eyes widened as he recognised the kunai as the same one the kid had dropped just a minute ago. He spun quickly, but not quickly enough. Another kunai was shoved through the left side of his back, piercing his heart.

The man fell to the ground, exposing a horrified Iruka behind him.

The fallen nin melted into mud.

"I-It was a mud clone!" exclaimed Iruka as he frantically searched for the real nin, until from the forest appeared the same man that he had thought he had just killed. The genin frantically took a shuriken out of his pouch, causing the nin to smile, the boy just didn't know when to give up.

Iruka attached an exploding tag to the shuriken and threw it...towards his camp.

The nins eyes widened and he desperately charged the boy, knowing he wouldn't get there in time to stop him from activating it. He was right, the tag blew up in mid air, waking both the jounin sensei up and the two other genins.

The Iwa nin was now standing infront of Iruka again. "Why you sneaky little bastard..."

Iruka got a grin of defiance out before he was knocked out with a chop to the neck.

* * *

Deidara grinned at the little blonde child in front of him. He had almost killed the leader when he had almost blown the mission just to toy with a mere genin, but everything had turned out for the better, and now he'd definately get that promotion he'd been wanting.

The jounin sensei turned out to know nothing and he along with the other two genin had been killed, Iruka had been spared only at the insistance at the squad leader. He'd insisted that the boy live, he said that the boy deserved it with the fight he put up. Deidara thought it was a stupid choice but had reluctantly agreed. They were just about to leave when they stumbled across the scroll in the jounin's pack. Noticing the Hokage seal on it, they decided it was worth their time and had read the small scroll.

It had been the best choice they could have made.

They had found out that the child the genin had been escorting was the Yondaime's only son. As if this alone wasn't good enough, the boy was also the container of the Kyuubi no Kitsune! The strongest biju in existance. Yes, the Tsuchikage would be very pleased with this.

Deidara picked up the baby and held it to his chest with one hand, letting the mouth on his other hand lick the child's face. He smiled as the baby gurgled and smiled at the touch, a rare emotion for Deidara. He held the baby with both hands, holding him so they were face to face.

"You are gonna be a great shinobi, yeah. I can tell. You might surpass me someday. After all, you're Iwa's new Jinchuuriki now, mm."

* * *

Well, how is it? It was originally gonna be longer, going into were they met with the Tsuchikage, but I decided to end it here and see what kind of response I get. I hope it was alright. Tell me whatcha think, don't be afraid to flame.

Press the little blue button, you will (Yoda; using the jedi mind trick)


	2. New Daddy

**Summary: **After the Kyuubi attack, Sarutobi realises that Naruto will most likely be hated if he stays in Konoha. Knowing this he decides to send Naruto away to an isolated village on the edge of Fire country. But the caravan sent to the town is ambushed by Rock shinobi and Naruto is missing. The Tsuchikage knowing instantly what Naruto is, sends him to live with one of his most trusted shinobi...Deidara. Twelve years later, at the Chuunin exams, a mysterious Rock gennin team has entered, with a powerful blonde shinobi at their disposal. How will Sarutobi and the rest of Konoha react to this revelation?

* * *

A/N: Alright I finally got the next chapter in. I'm sorry it took so long, but school just started and already it's kicking my ass. I got a new math teacher thats really pushing my limits (he expects one Algebra 2 assignment done every day) so I have at least an hour a night for math alone. Not to mention I'm starting college courses and I'm just entering Highschool. So ya, it's reallllly kicking my ass. But on September 21 my mom is gonna go to work at nights, so i'll have quite a bit more free time without her ragging on me to get my chores done.

**Shinobi of the Rock,  
Chapter 2:  
_New Daddy_**

The Yondaime Tsuchikage smirked down at the blonde child in front of him, the third person to do so in the last week in a half. He was a slightly tall man with a medium build and broad shoulders. A short, scruffy beard was on his chin, ocompanied by a thin moustauche, barely visible under his hawklike nose.

The infant gurgled and reached up towards the Tsuchikage, indicating that he wanted to be picked up. The man smirk transformed into a full-blown smile, a rare thing that few people ever saw, as he carefully picked the child up. The smiling kage turned to the chuunin standing at attention.

"Get me Deidara." he said simply.

He saw the man pale before nodding and giving a bow. The chuunin quickly fled the office leaving the Tsuchikage alone with the baby.

The middle age man looked back at the child in his hands, his smile returning.

"Uzumaki Naruto, eh?" he said quietly to the child, "No, that will not do, such a name for the son of the Yondaime Hokage and container of the Kyuubi is hardly fitting. Hmm... but what shall we name you?" the brown haired man furrowed his brow as he thought. Suddenly he brought the baby away from him, holding him at arms length. "How about, Kanbou Iwa no Naruto." he smiled again, setting the newly named child into the temporary crib.

Just then Deidara busted in, not even bothering to knock, a look of annoyance on his face. "What do you want?" he demanded.

The Tsuchikage scowled at the obvious disrespect the young jounin showed him, but chose to let it go...for now. "Where is my chuunin?" demanded the Tsuchikage, although he already had a good idea, especially after he saw Deidara smirk.

"He retired with a bang, yeah." He said, his mood slightly brightened

The Tsuchikage sighed and rubbed his temples. He had to find a new assistant now. If it had been anyone else, he would have had them executed immediately for killing someone that was carrying out his orders, but Deidara was the one exception to that rule. The blonde haired teen was the most promising shinobi of his generation and was the number one candidate for Tsuchikage, despite his...personality flaws. It would be interesting indeed to see what Naruto would turn out like.

Deidara had grown impatient while the Tsuchikage was in his musings and decided to bring him back to reality, "Hey old man! Why am I here, mm?"

The kage sighed once again at the disrespect and filed it away in his mind to teach the boy some manners sometime. He decided to answer his question, though. "You are here to discuss your new assignment."

"What assignment? You said I was getting a break!"

The brown haired man turned back towards the crib, picking up the blonde baby. "This assignment," he said, not looking at Deidara, "May very well be the most important mission of your life..." He let that hang for a moment before continueing, "This mission will span for about twelve to thirteen years...and you will be payed S-rank comission for every month of those thirteen years..."

Deidara's eye's widened. Thirteen years! He'd be an old man by the time he was done. Missions that long were unheard of and along with S-ranked pay! The new jounin's eyes narrowed; the old man was up to something.

"What is this mission?" He said cautiously, testing the waters.

"I am unable to say anything more about it unless you accept first." said the kage, sipping the cup of tea that was sitting on the corner of his old desk. He set it back down empty and crossed his arms, waiting for his response.

Deidara frowned at this, "Why can't you tell me more than that?"

"It is forbidden..."

The clay wielder sighed, "I'll take it. Now tell me what this is about, mm?"

The Tsuchikage smiled. _Hook, line and sinker._ He walked back over to the crib and picked out the baby. "Your new mission is to watch over young Naruto until he can protect himself. The people won't take kindly to the son of the Yondaime."

Diedara's visible eye widened, and he waved his hands in front of him. "A-ahhh! What're you tryin' to pull, old man!?"

The Kage's smile widened and he appeared in front of the clay bearer. He gave the young man a scroll and shoved the baby into his arms. "You'll have to watch closely, Deidara, there will most likely be murder attempts..." At this the man paused and grinned at Deidara, "...you will be able to use any means neccessary to protect your new charge."

Deidara returned the smirk. "Art is a bang, yeah?"

* * *

Six hours later...

Deidara growled for about the tenth time in as many minutes.

He was currently sitting in his small house on the edge of the village and was seriously considering killing his new charge, consequences be damned. A cry from the said charge brought his attention back towards the brat, who was currently sucking on it's fist.

He growled again and pulled the baby's hand out of his mouth.

"What's wrong with you, mm?" demanded the jounin, glaring at the small child with a killer intent laced stare. The baby, unaffected, just put it's fist back into it's mouth and sucked contently.

Deidara almost killed him right there -- his hand even twitched toward his clay pouch -- but he managed to restrain himself. He didn't get it, the damn child just wouldn't eat. He had tried giving him some simple biscuits with sake, Deidara's own preference, but the brat wouldn't eat that, so he brought out some rice cakes, no go. Dango? The baby wouldn't eat that either. Ramen, steak, and chicken, from Iwa's own field, didn't work either. And finally, Diedara had brought out his last stop. It was a delicacy that he restrained himself to eating only once a month.

Fresh sushi, imported from Wave Country. He was sure that the child would eat this, for Kami-sake.

You know what that ungrateful...trash did to his precious sushi?

It cried, thrashed it's arms, and _spit it out_.

HIS SUSHI!

He shuddered just thinking about it.

The clay bearer threw up his hands as the baby cried again and stalked over to the single table in the center of the living room. He picked up the scroll, which he had thrown on there when he walked in, and opened it, hoping to find something about what Konoha infants ate.

He groaned when the first thing he saw on the list was: _Feed baby warmed milk, preferably by spoon._

That was just his luck. Here he was feeding the baby good sushi -- not to mention the other things he tried to feed it -- and all that brat needed was a few spoonfulls of _warm milk?_ He wrinkled his nose, who drank warm milk?

He skimmed the rest of the scroll and learned quite a few things on the behaviour of infants, afterall, how was he supposed to know that those things didn't walk? He thought people carried them because their short, stubby little legs weren't long enough to keep up with the adults, but now it turned out that their legs couldn't support them until they were at least ten months old.

He smirked slightly. He would see about that; there was no way he was gonna pack the thing around for a whole year.

Deidara stood up stifly and stretched. He had been there longer than he thought. He looked over to the baby and sweat dropped when he saw the baby asleep with it's fist still in it's mouth. He walked over and picked up the child hesitantly. He frowned as he thought of something.

_Don't babies have to go to the bathroom? _Then he remembered something he read in the scroll; something not particularly enjoyable. He slowly looked down and the baby's buttox and saw the swelling cloth diaper.

A tick appeared above his eye as he started to smell the mess.

He growled and set the baby down on the floor. Plugging his nose with one hand, Deidara undid the cloth garment and almost gagged. He'd never seen -- or smelled -- anything so foul in his life. It was _green_ for Kami-sake. By now Naruto had woken up and was cry and thrashing around in the stuff.

"Aahhh!" yelled Diedara as he picked the baby up by his arms, being carefull to stay away from it's rear end, he put it in the sink.

After the baby was clear he turned back towards the... garment. He was about to pick it up by the corners, but on second thought slipped a pair of fingerless black gloves on. He did _not_ want to risk tasting this stuff with his hand mouthes. He carefully picked it up and walked towards the door opening it with his foot. Once he was outside he walked to middle of his yard and set it down. He then calmly walked back to the front of the house, took off his gloves... and proceeded to clay bomb the poor diaper.

He grinned at the crater now addorning his yard, happy to be able to demonstrate his art.

Diedara rubbed his hands as if dusting them off. Polishing his palms, that was what the old Tsuchikage called it, it was quite literal with the clay bearer however, as the saliva from his hand mouthes actually cleaned his hands, making them look as if they were polished.

He walked back into his house and back to the kitchen, where baby Naruto was sucking on the tip of the faucet. He smirked slightly and turned the water on. Water gushed out of the faucet spraying into the baby's mouth and all over it's face. The baby visibly jumped and looked like it might cry, but suprise turned to curiousity and soon the baby was putting it's hand in and out of the water and gurgling happily.

Deidara smiled for a moment, showing his teeth, but quickly wiped it off. The damn child was already growing on him.

He turned off the faucet when most of the mess was rinsed off. He was about to look around to see if he had anything to use as another diaper when the baby suddenly started crying. The clay bearer quickly spun back towards the child, and even though he was new with children, he knew that his new charge was upset that the water was shut off. Groaning for what must have been the twentieth time that night, he turned the faucet on.

Instantly the baby was gurgling happily and splashing around in the small stream of water.

Diedara watched the baby splash for a few minutes before a small, stubby hand reached out towards him, the baby sitting in the sink was now looking at him, expecting... something from him. Hesitantly, he reached out his own hand to touch the child's. The baby wrapped it's hand around one of Deidara's fingers and looked back at him.

The clay bearer couldn't help but smile at the cute child. Maybe, just maybe, this wouldn't be so bad. He could make a strong shinobi out of this child, one with a sense of art, of course.

This pleasant thoughts ended as the baby splashed it's free hand into the water and effectively soaked it's new bodyguard.

Deidara looked down at his soaked shirt and snarled.

"Funny guy, mm?"

He quickly shut off the faucet and took the baby out of the sink. This time, however, the baby didn't cry and instead just gave a gummy grin at the older blonde.

And behind his scowl, Deidara was also smiling.

* * *

The next few years past as a blur for both Deidara and Naruto. Naruto broke the record for earliest walking baby, Diedara had him walking in six months, and by the time he was a year old he was running around the house faster than most four years olds. When he was a year and a half Diedara bought him a little wieghted gi to wear, adding more weight to it every few months. By the time he was six, the young blonde was packing around nearly fifty pounds at all times.

This was when Deidara started to teach the child a limited range of taijutsu, and even lesser jutsus (Kawarimi and a D level earth jutsu). The blonde picked things up amazingly fast and within the first year Deidara had to get a jounin from the village to teach him, as the older blonde had limited knowledge of taijutsu; he himself mostly relied on his clay in fights.

When Naruto turned eight Diedara gave him a pair of forearm bracers worn by the Shodai Tsuchikage himself. They alowed the user to pump chakra into them to greatly increase physical strength and the effectiveness of earth element jutsus.

The boy by now had grown his hair out into a ponytail, almost a mini version of Deidara's, minus the bangs covering one eye. He was a very handsome young man, and Diedara constantly teased him about the various young girls that chased him around. It wasn't much of a problem, though. Throughout all of his training Naruto had focused on one thing. Speed.

The boy was constantly adding weights onto his legs and running around with them. He was already as fast as most chuunin. If he was anybody else he would already be crippled from all the strain he put on his legs, but the healing ability of the Kyuubi never failed.

The boy had been told about his heritage and his tenant by Diedara on his tenth birthday. Naruto had shut himself away from everyone for a whole two weeks, and Deidara and the Tsuchikage had been very worried that he would try to escape the village to go back to his homeland, but after a while Naruto came out of his shell as if nothing had happened.

The villagers had also taking a liking to the kind energetic boy that was alway racing around the town. He added a well need spark to the dull village of stone and he gave everyone a kindly greeting whenever he saw them. He was also supplied the local ramen shop with 30 percent of it's income.

There had been no assasination attempts and needless to say, Diedara had grown very close to the boy.

That made it that much harder when the first one came.

* * *

Well whatcha think? R&R ppl, reviews make me update.

Alright a few things here:

'Kanbou Iwa no Naruto' means 'Naruto of the cold stone'. This may not be the exact translation, and I admit that my japanese sucks, but for now thats his name.

This might confuse people also, a 'gi' is an outfight usually worn by martial arts specialists. if you still don't know what it is, goku's regular outfit in dbz is an orange gi.

One more thing, I know that I refered to Naruto as 'it' alot. I'm sorry if that was annoying, but this is what Diedara thinks. The baby is not a 'he' or a 'she', the baby is an 'it'.

alright thats all for now. Once again, R&R.


	3. Hunting For The Kyuubi Brat

**Summary: **After the Kyuubi attack, Sarutobi realises that Naruto will most likely be hated if he stays in Konoha. Knowing this he decides to send Naruto away to an isolated village on the edge of Fire country. But the caravan sent to the town is ambushed by Rock shinobi and Naruto is missing. The Tsuchikage knowing instantly what Naruto is, sends him to live with one of his most trusted shinobi...Deidara. Twelve years later, at the Chuunin exams, a mysterious Rock gennin team has entered, with a powerful blonde shinobi at their disposal. How will Sarutobi and the rest of Konoha react to this revelation?

* * *

A/N: Alright, time for some explanation. I've been gone for about two months now, and I know quite a few of you were worried about me abandoning my stories. Anyway, after my last update I came down with the worst case of flu of my life. I'm serious. I was puking my guts out for six days, missed a whole week of basketball practise. Then that weekend we had a tournament in another town. So that screwed up my updates. Then the idiots that service the broadband machine did something to it, and my internet connection was cut off for three f'ing weeks.But, I'm finally back, and here's the next chapter of SotR.

**Shinobi of The Rock,  
****Chapter 3:  
**_**Hunting For The Kyuubi Brat**_

Sarutobi sighed as he looked down at the man on the table. He had black hair and a fair face. If his eye's had been open it would have shown mischevious brown irises. There was also a prominent mark on his nose, more specifically, a scar from his left cheek all the way across his nose to his right.

The Hokage took off his title displaying hat and rubbed his temples with his fore fingers. The mission he had assigned Genin team 9 eleven years ago had been a failure. Sarutobi still remembered. They hadn't heard from the team for two weeks when, in the middle of night, there had been a knock on Sarutobi's door. He had opened it and Iruka stumbled in. He had been in bad shape. The gash on his nose had gotten infected and he had a fractured hand that had started to heal wrong. His arm had been wrenched out of his socket and hung useless. From a glance Sarutobi could also tell that he was suffering from dehydration and judging from the ribs showing through his ripped genin outfit he was also starving.

The Hokage had barely kept him alive in the first few hours. The young genin had only stayed awake long enough to tell him that the rest of his team was dead. The boy had closed his eyes then, as they would be closed for the next eight years.

And now here he layed, in a coma, on a hospital bed in the east ward.

Sarutobi stared at the boy that had grown into a man while he slept. There wasn't a day that went by that he didn't regret his choice to send a genin team on the mission. There must have been major problems for the team to be dead, especially for the jounin sensei to be dead! There shouldn't have been anything that threatening, they were still in fire country for Kami sake!

He shook his head to clear his thoughts. It was no use brooding over events that have already passed. That had always been his motto, through his long reign as Hokage. It still didn't keep him from looking back...

" Oh, Iruka if only I knew what happened."

He smiled sadly and wiped a small tear from his eye. He hated this part of being Hokage...

Especially when he had to come here to...

"Hokage-sama?" A nurse peeked her head in through the door.

Sarutobi stiffened. "...Yes?"

She walked all the way in now, closing the door behind her. "Are you ready, Hokage-sama?"

Are you ready? Was he ready? What kind of question was that? Here when he was about to... "Yes... I am." he said slowly, hating himself for every word that left his lips. He couldn't believe he was doing this.

The nurse nodded her head and walked over to the bed... towards the machines that were respirating the incapitated Iruka. The nurse sighed as she reached for the plug and closed her hand around it.

Sarutobi stared. This was it. Iruka's life was about to end, and at the hands of someone he didn't even know. Was this right? Did he deserve this? It was necessary, or was it? The plug was almost halfway out now. Closer...closer...

"Wait!" The Nurse released the plug and Sarutobi stepped forward. "I- I'll do it..." he said softly.

The nurse nodded understandingly and stepped back.

Sarutobi bent down and grasped the plug. "Goodbye my friend." He pulled out the cord with one swift tug...

He heard the nurse scream and looked back at the bed where she was pointing.

Iruka's eyes had opened.

* * *

_A Week Later..._

A heavy-set man sat behind a ramen bench. Futoccho had a slow day of business for the last two days and they showed no signs of improving. He sighed and placed his head in his hands. At this rate he'd be out of business by the end of the month.

A small brown bird swooped down and landed on the stand bench, knocking Futoccho out of his brooding. It chirped at him twice before pecking at a piece of noodle. The man smiled, a crooked smile that made his goatee wiggle, and watched the bird as it pecked at the ramen leftovers.

Suddendly there was a loud crash and a yellow blur raced towards the shop. Futoccho perked his head up with interest. His best customer! He quickly set out a stool and got out a few bowls just as the blur came skidding to a halt.

Naruto was doubled over with his hands on his knees, gasping like a fish out of the water. He stood like that for a few minutes before he wiped the drool from the corner of his mouth and gave a the ramen stand owner a small shaky smile. "Sensei says he's gonna try to get me in the Academy this year, so..."

"So ole' Deidara's working ya hard, eh?" Futoccho smiled and set down a bowl of ramen. "We'll you better eat up before he finds you, he's gonna be pretty mad if he see's you here again."

Naruto groaned. Last time Deidara had found him at the ramen stand when he was supposed to be training he had to run ten laps around all of Iwa! And he couldn't cheat either because Deidara had a bird follow him the whole way. Speaking of birds... Naruto just noticed the small brown bird on the corner of the bench. He now saw that it was staring at him in a strange way. Such a pretty.. brown...bird...

"Oh, Shi-AHH!"

Futoccho raised his frying pan from the poor boy's head. "Don't you use that kind of language in my ramen stand you delinquent!" He yelled.

"Owww...!" Groaned the eleven-year old.

A chirp from his right reminded Futoccho of the bird's presence. He had completely forgotten about the poor thing! He reached into his bowl of ramen and then turned to give it another noodle...

Just in time to see it crash into Naruto and explode.

* * *

Deidara grinned sadistically and dropped quietly from the dango shop. He glanced across the street at the scorched ramen stand. A long blond mop was sticking out of the rubble of two destroyed tables-- the elastice band that was holding it had come out in the explosion-- Futoccho was cowering in a corner, holding a tray over his head, as if it would protect him from any more of the suicide bomber birds.

Walking over to the destroyed shop he grabbed onto a tuff of blond hair and pulled his charge from under the tinder, but had to let go when some of the hair started to rip out. "What the..." Deidara squinted at the boy, this time he struggled to pick him up by his arms.

' Jeez this kid weighs a ton, mm!'

Setting the kid back on the ground he rolled up the boy's sleeves, revealing two metal bands on each arm, resting on top of his bracers. Deidara took them off and frowned. There was no way these things had made the kid so heavy, weighing it in his hand, he estimated they was around twenty pounds. Pulling up one pant leg he groaned as he found a thick metal weight on Naruto's left leg. Taking it off, his arm wasn't ready for the weight and his hand slamed into the ground, smashed under the heavy weight. He pulled his hand out and glared at the hunk of metal, trying to melt it with his stare.

After that didn't work, he turned his stare to the boy. The idiot! Those weights on his legs were three times the weight of the ones on his arms! Deidara smiled as an evil thought came to him. Unfortunately, before he had time to set his plan into motion, a loud voice nearly made him cringe.

"DEEEIIIDAARRRA!!" Futoccho was just now getting up, and upon seeing his shop, well, he was pissed.

Deidara smirked, "Yes? What do you want, un?"

The short, wide man waddled up to the taller blonde. "WHAT DO I WANT!!" He poked Deidara with his index finger "I want you to fix my fuc-- freaking shop you one eyed, clay carrying freak!!"

Deidara gave the ramen stand owner a look. If this had been anyone else they would have met one of his clay spiders as soon as they raised their voice at him, and this irritating man would have been no exception... if it wasn't for Naruto. The boy was very attached to the man. Deidara looked back down at his charge and scowled. The boy was a little too friendly, to trustworthy; a fact that worried Deidara immensely. He couldn't let his affection effect his decisions in a real battle as it had in practise spars they'd had.

Deidara would leave an opening and the boy would take it, but he wouldn't take it at full speed, or he wouldn't hit with the added strength of his bracers; he would just punch his instructor with his own strength which was, in a word, pathetic. If he let that happen in a real ninja battle he could get an unnessesary injury, or worse.

The blonde clay bearer let his mind wander then and he faintly noted that Naruto had a three inch sliver in his cheek that would have to be removed...

"Deidara!" Futoccho's particularly whiney voice cut through the blonde's thoughts like a hot knife through butter. The ramen stand owner stuck his now red face up as far as he could until he was nose to nose to Deidara. "Were you even listening!?"

"What?" Deidara grunted and shoved Futoccho away from him. Maybe a little too hard, because the little man stumbled and fell right onto his ass. He glared and the blonde shrugged his appology before picking up Naruto, supplementing his muscles with a little bit of chakra to help them with the task, and slinging him over his shoulder.

"What are you going to do about my shop!?" The man once again demanded, still sitting pitifully on the sidewalk.

Deidara glanced up and down the street. It was lucky that it was rather late in the evening and that not many people had seen the whole incident. Though even the few that did were too scared to say something to Deidara. He turned and said over his shoulder, "I'll send the boy to help you repair it." Then he started walking.

The blonde could feel the glaring eyes on his back all the way down the street, laced with a small amount of killing intent which almost made Deidara flinch. He should have guessed, the fat old man had actually been a ninja once. A shitty ninja; he never made it passed chuunin, but it was still slightly supprising that the man could still call on some of his old skills.

It took Deidara almost an hour's walk to make it to training ground 5, which was reserved by the Tsuchikage for their personal training.

He set the boy down against a stump and examined the boy. His face and clothes were dirty and ripped from the explosion, his hair was out and falling back almost to his shoulders. Deidara had set the wieghts next to the boy and he looked at them now. He gained an evil grin and bent over to put them back on...

After a few moments he stood back up and smirked at his handywork. The boy was now wearing the leg weights on his arms and the arm weights on his legs. That would give him a suprise when he got up. The boy's arms were pathetic, and it would take him quite a while to get used to those. And not only that, Deidara had cast a minor binding jutsu over them, so only he could take them off, or a highly skilled shinobi.

Deidara gave the boy one last look, then turned and leaped into the trees. He for one was going to sleep in his nice warm bed, but the boy could stay outside, he would come stumbling home when he got hungry enough, besides, it would be good for him.

What could happen?

* * *

The first thing Naruto noticed when he woke up was that he wasn't at his house. The second thing he noticed was that it was the middle of the night. And the third thing he noticed was that he couldn't move his arms!

He could feel the forest floor with his fingers, but he couldn't move his arms. He flexed his arms and pulled some of the power from his bracers. His arms lifted about six inches off the ground before smashing back to the ground. "Arrgghh!!" he yelled in frustration.

Sensei had obviously switched his weights. The control freak that he was, he probably wanted to use it as a training exercise. He groaned and rolled onto his stomach. If he could get to his feet, he would be able to make it home. He pulled his hands under his stomach and pushed, managing to get into a kneeling position. Now came the hard part. He really wished Sensei would have showed him how to make his muscles stronger with chakra, but the clay bearer said he wouldn't learn that skill until he reached genin. He brought his thoughts back to the present and focused on his task.

He grunted, pulled power from his bracers once again, and stood up. The grunt soon turned into a scream as his left arm, not used to the weight, popped out of it's socket. He bit his lip hard to stifle his screams. If Sensei had heard that he would be furious, if he stressed one thing it was pain tolerence.

Naruto stiffened his resolve and walked over to a tree. Walking was no problem, his legs were developed enough to handle his weight. It was times like these that he really wished that he had added more weight to his arms. He might actually do that when this was over... but then again, probably not. He leaned against the tree and took a deep breath, closing his eyes.

He sat their for a moment. Listening to the chattering of a squirrel whose nest Naruto had disturbed, the hoot of an owl, the squeak of a mouse as it was sweeped up by the predator owl. The sweet smell of pine reached his nostrils. It was the Yondaime Tsuchikage that had first taught him to appreciate the beauty of the small patch of forest that rested on the outskirts of Iwagakure.

It was the only real forest for miles all around. Naruto and Deidara came here often to train, or to just sit silently in the trees. Of course, Deidara could only sit there for so long before he wanted to make the forest, "truly" beautiful and blow it up. But Naruto was able to talk him out of it. The forest was also a way to get him used to fighting in different in terrain. He expecially wanted to get used to fighting in the forest. Because thats where...

His fist clenched.

Naruto was lucky he was sitting how he was, for if he hadn't been he never would have heard it.

The whistle of a kunai flying through the air.

He leaped to the side and rolled, immediately regretting it as his arm stung him again. He grimaced and crouched, keeping his attention all around him, he tried to locate the source of the projectile.

Another whistle sounded, and he leaped to the side on instinct, avoiding a second kunai. Another followed soon after, this one a little fast than the last and it stabbed into a tree near his head.

Naruto was started to feel as if he could really be in trouble. Who would attack him? This person must be someone that really hated him, to attack him like this, but he had no idea who it could be.

Another flurry of projectiles came at Naruto, this time shurikens. He leaped high in the air to avoid these, and to survey the area from a higher point. But as soon he was above the treeline he noticed his mistake. He had been assuming there was only one person, but now he could see that there were at least five. And what was worse, in the moonlight he could see the white mask that was signature to Anbu.

He cursed as a they bounded towards him, letting loose a hail of kunai. Naruto made a seal and a second later a log took the blunt of the metal knives. Naruto meanwhile, was crouching behind a patch of brush. It wouldn't be long before they found him though, he could already feel them conversing on his position.

He only had one chance: to signal Sensei. There was no way he could handle one of the Anbu, let alone five or more.

He didn't have anymore time to put this plan into action as he had to duck as a short katana sliced through the top branches of the bush that he was hiding behind. He rolled backwards and got into a fighting stance. The Anbu was standing about ten feet away, directly infront of Naruto. The blonde slowly put his hands together and tried to unclapse the wieghts, only to discover what he had feared; Sensei had put some sort of jutsu on them that prevented him from taking them off.

He sighed before he jumped to the side to avoid another Anbu from behind. He had to do something about his shoulder. It was hassling him and he wouldn't be able to dodge the Anbu for much longer... especially when they decided to stop toying with him.

Making his decision, he ran towards a thick pine a few feet to his right. But he didn't stop there. He swerved slightly so that his left shoulder was lined up with the center of the trunk. He had to get this over with quick so that he wouldn't leave an opening for attack.

He yelled as he hit the trunk. With a sickening pop his shoulder went back into place. Naruto instantly felt his breath leave him, but he forced himself to stay upright. It still left him open though, as one of the shinobi appeared in front of him and brought his knee up into the boy's chest, sending him to the ground.

The rest of the Anbu soon surrounded the downed boy.

Naruto had just regained enough breath to survey the situation, and he didn't like what he saw. The shinobi had him surrounded and he could now see that there had been seven in all. The leader stepped forward and drew his katana. He pointed the tip so that it was six inches from Naruto's chest, "In the name of Root, I will rid this world of your filth, demon!"

Konoha!

Naruto felt his rage at the sound of the name, but he could also feel the Kyuubi stirring, so he forced it down. But it didn't matter, the Anbu had already moved. His blade was three inches and closing.

People say that before you die, everything stops. That's true, because right then Naruto could see everything in slow motion. The blade that was about to pierce his heart. The emotionless masks of the Anbu. All seven of them: frog, raven, wolf, bear, eagle, beaver, mouse. He could see all of them... even the small brown spider that was clinging to the Anbu captains, shoulder. A nice pleasant brown...

The explosion was what knocked Naruto out of his dreary mindset. It blew the Anbu back and singed the blonde's clothes.

"What in the hell!"

"Captain!"

A few of the Anbu were starting over to help their fallen captain, but some -- the more experienced ones -- stayed where they were and waited for the next attack. They didn't have to wait long, but it wasn't from where they expected.

Naruto scissor-kicked the legs out of one of the Anbu, and quickly climbed to his feet, using the power of his bracers once again. Probably the last, too, the damn thing used up more chakra than an A-class ninjutsu.

The blonde charged the next Anbu and swung his arms like a hammer, using the weights momentum to propel it along. However, the Anbu couldn't see the weights, and raised his forearm to block the sweep. The strike had enough force to shatter his arm like glass. It went right through it and slammed into the man's temple, knocking him out instantly.

Naruto turned away just in time to get a vicious punch to the face. It felt like his face had just been hit with a brick. It nearly broke his nose and sent him reeling backward, blood blurring his vision. He vaguely saw another punch coming and knew that this one would do the trick. He'd be unconcious in the middle of a slugfest. Great.

Just as the punch was about to hit him, a gloved hand reached out and grabbed the Anbu's forearm, and black booted foot slammed into his side, sending the man flying back, gasping for air.

Naruto was more than relieved, "Sensei!"

Deidara, scowled, "Get the hell out of here, un, what are you thinking!"

The blonde's relief quickly left and he glared at his teacher. "Well get these things the fuck off of me then!" He wiggled his arms as much as he could.

Deidara almost groaned, he had forgotten about those! He knocked away another ninja and quickly slipped his gloves off to clay bomb two more. "Here!" He quickly dispelled the jutsu and gave the boy a shove, "Now go to the house! I'll be back in a bit, as soon as I'm done with these trash, un!"

Naruto nodded and reluctantly took to the trees.

Deidara dodged a punch and would've retaliated with a kick of his own, had not one of the other Anbu intervened with a katana slice. Diedara ducked it and quickly kicked out his legs, catching one of the two remaining Anbu in the chin. But this left him open for an elbow to the face from the other ninja. The blonde rolled with the punch and quickly leaped back, reaching into his satchel and throwing two clay birds as he did so.

The two Anbu however had recovered and dodged the birds, coming at Deidara from both sides. They both brought out their katana's and sliced, but narrowly missed beheading each other as the Iwa shinobi sunk into the ground. The ninja quickly leaped into the air, but one of them wasn't quick enough, and he soon found himself buried underground up to his neck.

The other Anbu quickly jumped again as Deidara exploded out from under him. The blonde grinned as the other Anbu set himself into a kenjutsu stance, he hadn't had this much fun in a long time!

Unfortunately the other Anbu didn't feel the same way and stared him down until the grin floated off his face. Deidara stared back and soon the other Anbu was charging, katana drawn. He dodged the initial swipe and ducked the horizontal slice that followed. He lashed out with a fist, but it was blocked by the Anbu's knee, leaving Deidara open for a vertical swipe. The blonde barely dodged, the tip of the blade dug slightly into his shoulder.

Deidara leaped back and narrowed his eyes. He wasn't a master at taijutsu, he only knew one style, and he was far from mastering it, but he was still able to disable an average Anbu fairly quickly. That only meant that this was someone better than an average Anbu... and there was only one person that it could be.

Deidara's eyes widened slightly and he smirked slightly. He charged forward, suprising the Anbu. He feinted left, but spun and lashed out with his foot, which was blocked, but the Anbu wasn't ready for the clay dragonfly that blew up in his face, obliterating his mask and revealing a masked man with a mop of unruly silver hair.

Deidara's smirk widened, "Hatake Kakashi, Konoha's famous copy cat ninja. Your head is worth quite a lot around here, mm?"

"My reputation precedes me." Kakashi said dryly.

"Well, un, since you've trespassed on Iwagakure's land, I guess I'll do the service of removing you." Said the blonde, brushing his bangs out of the way and revealing his scope eye.

"I didn't come to fight you." said the Konoha ninja boredly.

Deidara raised an eyebrow, "I can tell that by the way you attacked Naruto, un!"

Kakashi reached back into one of his utility pouches and the Iwa nin tensed, but relaxed slightly when he only brought out a book. A little orange one... Wait! Could it be!? The limited edition of Icha Icha? He'd been looking all over for that one!

Kakashi cleared his throat and Deidara got back to the situation at hand.

He didn't have to say anything though, as the silver haired shinobi got right down to business, but what he had to say was hardly what Deidara wanted to hear. "I came for the boy."

The blonde tensed, "Your not going to kill Naruto."

Kakashi's eyes (He's not wearing his hiati-ate because he had his Anbu mask on) widened slightly, "I never said anything about killing him." Deidara glared at him disbelievingly and Kakashi nodded, "I know it looked that way, but the boy was in no real danger, I would have stepped in had the situation got any worse."

The Iwa shinobi frowned. Worse? The boy had been about to get impaled, how much worse do you get? "Your not taking him." He stated bluntly.

"Well, then." Kakashi put his book away and the three tomoe in his eyes started to spin. "I guess, I'm gonna have to get you out of the way and go take him _forcibly_."

Deidara laughed out loud at that. "Oh and your going to fight your way through all the Hunter nin, jounin, and the Tsuchikage to get to him, un?"

Kakashi blinked, "Umm, no. I'll just grab him out of that tree right there." He pointed.

"What!" Deidara turned, and sure enough, there was Naruto, his head sticking out from behind a thick tree, a sheepish smile on his face, "Naruto!! Get the he-"

"Sensei, look out!"

Deidara rolled on instict and saved himself from being caught from a vicious kick that Kakashi had thrown. The blonde almost smacked himself, he had fallen for the oldest trick in the book! He dodged a punch from Kakashi and retaliated with a low sweeping kick. Kakashi jumped over it and pulled a kunai out of his pouch, bringing it down to bear on the blonde. Deidara recieved the blow in the shoulder, but his resilient outfit took the blunt of the blow and ended up with only a small cut. He brought both hands up and smashed the unprepared Kakashi in the jaw, making him flip back.

Deidara smirked at the nin and started to make hand seals, which Kakashi instantly imitated.

"_Goiuk-" _Deidara didn't finish his jutsu as there was a blur of movement and a figure appeared between the blonde and the Konoha nin.

'Shit, un'

The Tsuchikage's face was twisted into fury and as he drew the katana strapped at his waste he regarded Kakashi with barely contained fury. "Take your men and leave, _Konoha_ trash, before I kill you all!" The man spat out the word as if it was a bad taste in his mouth.

Kakashi hesitated for only a minute before he moved, quickly gathering the men and leaving as quickly as his legs would take him, the Tsuchikage's fiery gaze burning a hole in his back the whole way.

They were gone in moments, shadows in the night.

* * *

A/N: Well, there it is. The longest chapter so far... which isn't much to brag about. But anyway, I hope you liked it. I don't think it was my best work, but its passable. The next one will probably be a little better.

Anyway, the next story I'm gonna update is probably FoH. So, see ya next time.

R&R


	4. Schemes

**Summary: **After the Kyuubi attack, Sarutobi realises that Naruto will most likely be hated if he stays in Konoha. Knowing this he decides to send Naruto away to an isolated village on the edge of Fire country. But the caravan sent to the town is ambushed by Rock shinobi and Naruto is missing. The Tsuchikage knowing instantly what Naruto is, sends him to live with one of his most trusted shinobi...Deidara. Twelve years later, at the Chuunin exams, a mysterious Rock gennin team has entered, with a powerful blonde shinobi at their disposal. How will Sarutobi and the rest of Konoha react to this revelation?

* * *

A/N: Here's the next chapter. Hope you like it. Quite a few questions will be answered in this chapter. And hopefully some of your concerns will be quelled. Anyway, any questions that I thought were important I tried to answer in replies. If something that you wanted answered didn't get answered in this chapter or in a reply, then tell me and I'll happily tell you, as long as it isn't a question about where I'm going with the story. Don't bother, I'm not tellin'.

**Shinobi of the Rock  
****Chapter 4:  
**_**Schemes**_

Deidara's face was grim as he stepped through the door of the Tsuchikage's office. He had recieved his summons just a few minutes ago, the little bastard of a Chuunin that had awoken him was probably just now reaching the Hospital.

The old harpies would have a hard time patching that guy up.

The door swung open soundlessly. Deidara stepped quietly into the dark office and closed the door with a click as the lock set into place. It took a minute for his eyes to adjust to the dim light, but once his pupils dialated, he was able to spot the Tsuchikage sitting his his large leather chair at the back of the room, a cup of tea in his hands, and an antique coffee table sitting in front of him.

"Ahh, Deidara... Why don't you sit down." The bearded man motioned towards the chair on the other side of the table, another cup of tea already cooling down in front of it. It wasn't a request.

The blonde nodded and crossed the room swiftly to the chair he was assigned.

There was something about the old man this morning. Most the time Deidara would have made a comment about being able to see him with the lack of light, but today... The Tsuchikage was usually a laid back, calm man; a polar opposite of the former Tsuchikages.

But with the events of the day before, the old man just might be a little frustrated with Deidara. He'd almost failed to protect his charge the first time they ever had a real attempt on his life - though it turned out he wasn't in danger of being killed anyway - and not only that, it had been a whole Anbu team. So yeah, he might be slightly mad about that.

Just slightly.

Still, you had to be careful if you ever got the Tsuchikage mad. Even a little bit..

The man had a nasty habit of castrating people that failed him.

That made the events of last night all the more strange...

"Oi, Deidara! Snap the hell out of it boy!"

The blonde clay-bearer blinked as a hand waved in front of his face and realised that he'd been spacing out. "Yeah, Sorry old... Tsuchikage-sama" he added as an after thought.

The old man chuckled, "Calm down and don't be so worried. If I was mad about last night I would have killed you as soon as you walked through that door. These bones may be old, but they're more than strong enough to deal with a punk like you."

Deidara scowled idignantly, but said nothing.

The Yondaime(remember, Tsuchikage not Hokage) took a sip of his tea. "And besides, this may be a blessing in disguise. But we'll get to that later, right now I need to ask you a question that's been bothering me since last night... What the hell have you been teaching the boy? I should have expected him to at least be able to take down one or two Anbu, especially _Konoha _trash." he spat the word bitterly.

Deidara's scowl deepened.

"You can't expect a mere boy to take on Anbu, he's only twelve years..."

"Bullshit!" the Tsuchikage snapped, cutting Deidara off. The old man slammed his tea mug on the table, spraying tea into the air. "If you had _really _been training that boy, he would have been able to take out that squad without much trouble. You yourself said this when you took the mission. You've grown soft Deidara, that boy should be much better."

The blonde claybearer almost snapped back at the old man, but forcibly stopped himself. Doing something like that would only get himself killed.

"Fine" he bit out, "I'll up his training a bit."

"Feh, you'll do more than up it a bit. You'll _double_ it. Hell, triple it. I've seen you two train. I've seen more activity from a pair of arthritic turtles than you two." The Tsuchikage smirked slightly. "Your getting mighty attached to the brat."

"Mmm," Deidara remarked.

"Fuck, get the hell outta here, your dismissed." the old man waved his hand like he was shooing away a fly.

But the blonde had one question. One that had been nagging at him since he stepped into this room. "Hey... old man." he said. The Tsuchikage glanced at him and nodded his head, ushering him to go on. "Why didn't you finish those Konoha ninja? I would have expected you to have annihilated them, but you let them escape. Why, mm?"

The Yondaime didn't answer directly, instead he asked, "Deidara, do you know where the Chuunin exams take place the end of this year?"

When Deidara shook his head, he continued.

"It's in Konoha! The next two of them are held in Konohagakure. If I had killed those Konoha ninja, they would've found a way to pin the blame on us, even though they were invading our land. So see, by letting them live, I allow us to keep an entrance in the Konoha Chuunin exams."

Deidara raised an eyebrow, "And you want Naruto...?"

"Ahh, yes, I want Naruto to enter the later one. We need an entrance anyway..." the old man paused for a moment, concidering, before he nodded to himself. "I haven't mentioned this to anyone else... but we recieved a message from Suna a few days ago... and they want us to help them... invade Konoha."

The blonde claybearer blinked at this. "Invade Konoha?"

The Tsuchikage smirked. "Yes. They're in this along with Orochimaru. Seems the damn snake has his own village now. The invasions goin' on during the Chuunin exams." he chuckled lightly." I can just see the look on that old fucker Sarutobi's face when he sees the legacy of Konoha's greatest hero return to destroy the very village that he came from!"

Slowly, ever slowly, a smirk formed on Deidara's face.

"That's not a bad idea, yeah."

* * *

Saruto sat at his aged wooden desk, rubbing his temples lightly with his wrinkled forefingers, his anxiety clearly showing on his face. He sighed lightly thinking of the situation that he was in...

"We'll have to find a new course of action." he said to Kakashi.

The silver haired nin had just gotten out of the hospital, where he'd had his meager injuries tended to. The other members of the Anbu team were much worse, one of them had even died on the way back from infection. Not that Kakashi gave a flying fuck, seeing as they had agreed to assasinate a little boy.

He nodded slowly at the Hokage, his book bobbing slightly in his hand as he did so. He couldn't leave his pornagraphic novel alone even when such a serious matter was at hand, it spoke volumes about his infatuation with the racy literature.

"Danzo is onto us now... It'll be a lot harder to do anything now, we relied too much on the success of this last mission. The kid might not survive the next time they send someone."

Sarutobi shook his head, "Danzo won't be able to send anyone for a while, the Tsuchikage will have undoubtably tightened up security. I'm not the least bit worried about the boy's safety. That jounin is plenty strong enough to watch over him, from what you've told me. What I am concerned about is just how we're going to get him when the time comes. They're not going to just hand him over, and extracting him now when they know it'll be us attacking will just start up a war."

Kakashi glanced almost lazily up from his book, "That's true..." He looked thoughtful for a moment, "Even if you manage to take the boy without being seen, it's not hard to put two and two together concidering our last attempt... I really don't know how we're going to do this now."

"Ahh," the Sandaime took a puff from his pipe, savoring the bittersweet taste of the tabacco smoke in his mouth, "I know when we'll get our chance, the only problem is the execution, the timing will have to be perfect, and there can't be any mistakes."

The silver haired copy nin raised an eyebrow, before he shrugged.

"Your playing with fire now, Sarutobi. People tend to get burned when they do that..."

The Hokage grinned slightly, "But Kakashi, they don't call us _fire_ country for no reason. I've had experience in matters such as these before, this time is just a tad bit trickier than the others."

Now if there was one thing you could say about Kakashi, it was that he loved a challenge.

"What are you planning?"

Sarutobi's grin widened into an all out smile. "You can't expect an old man to be planning anything. I'm _much _to senile for that. And that Kakashi, is what I'm counting on..." the old man patted himself on the back for his cleverness, "If there is one thing I can tell you about the Yondaime Tsuchikage, it's that he is a proud man. I have no doubts in my mind that he's planning to rub this victory in our face somehow."

He paused for a second his smile fading slightly.

"And when he tries, we'll take Naruto out from under his nose."

* * *

_A few hours later..._

Naruto panted heavily and wiped a line of drool off of the side of his mouth as he attempted to dodge another clay bird. Not quite fast enough however, as the explosion swiped his feet out from under him and sent him tumbling down straight onto his ass. He sat there for a moment, his lungs pumping desperately to get some air. He had barely three seconds before Deidara's sharp voice rang out over the clearing.

"Get up, yeah."

The younger blonde knew it was no use arguing and groaned as he struggled to his feet, his exhausted muscles protesting against the movement. He had just second to regain his bearings before he was forced to dodge another clay projectile - this time a dragonfly.

He was able to dash out of the way in time to avoid another painful explosion, but the shockwave made him wobble slightly on his feet.

He didn't get it. It had never been this hard to dodge his sensei's retarded clay animals, but everything about his sparring session today had seemed like it had been on fast forward. Usually he would at least be able to land at least a hit on the older blonde, hell he usually kicked Sensei's ass in taijutsu. But today none of his moves seemed to be fast enough to penetrate Deidara's rock solid guard. Most of the time Naruto's kicks were enough to send Deidara sprawling, a testiment to how much he worked out with his legs, but he was shocked today to find that the clay-bearer had barely budged when he blocked a solid roundhouse from Naruto.

Not only had his Sensei's guard been all but impenetrable, but his attacks had been brutal. Naruto was covered in quickly developing bruises from when Deidara had pummeled him. Naruto was barely able to keep up with the speed of the older man's fists, much less be able to dodge them. After discovering his inability to dodge the furious attacks, Naruto had tried something that he didn't do all that often. He tried to block them.

Now to understand the reprecussions of this, you will have to know the basics of Naruto's taijutsu style.

The style was called the _'Genko Issen' _or the _Flash Fist_. Naruto's taijutsu instructor had specially chosen the style for the blonde because of his interest in speed. The style focused completely on evading or deflecting attacks and then striking back with swift percise strikes designed to disable or - in some cases - to kill. Never had the instructor, a large bald headed man called Oonyuudou, taught him even the barest basics of blocking - his style didn't require it.

So knowing this, when Naruto put up his arms in a haphazard position he thought was prepared for a block, Deidara's foot crashed right through the flimsy guard and smashed into his chin, almost making the poor boy black out.

The blonde rubbed his jaw, he could still feel the sting from that one.

He didn't have any more time to ponder the strange sparring session, because right then Deidara appeared in front of him, sending a fist flying towards the younger blonde's face. Naruto leaned a few inches to the left, Deidara's arm passing by him, within an inch of impacting with his right temple. The boy then brought his fist up while Deidara's guard was down, aiming for the solar plexus, in a blow that he had been taught would knock the air right out of an opponent, leaving them open for a potentially lethal follow up.

He was once again suprised when his Sensei's other arm snapped down in time to catch his fist, the mouth on the older nin's hand biting into his fist hard enough to draw blood. Deidara smirked slightly and brought his still extended arm back, crashing his elbow into the side of the boy's face, causing him to stumble back stunned. Naruto barely had enough sense to shift his body slightly as a knee started heading towards his gut, so instead of crashing into his rib cage and possible causing some internal damage the knee crashed into his lower abdomen, keeling him over and causing extreme pain, but less dangerous in the long run. Another thing taught to him by Oonyuudou.

He didn't, however, have time to even think about maneuvering around the uppercut heading toward his face. Through the blazing pain he was experiencing, and the fact that his brain was still befuddled from the earlier hit, he didn't even have a chance to cry out as the fist caught him in the jaw, sending him flying a few feet away with a sickening crack as his teeth snapped together.

The blonde boy rolled a few times before coming to rest nearly a stone's throw away.

Naruto took his time in getting up to his knees, and it took him another minute to catch his breath. He gagged for a second before hacking out a bloody molar that he had almost swallowed.

"Fuuuuccck..." he drawled out as he wiped his mouth free of the blood that had collected from his busted lip. Struggling to his feet he got loosely back into his taijutsu stance, after seeing that Deidara wasn't releasing his own stance.

_Damn, I can barely see straight..._ he thought, _How much longer can this last, have some freaking sympathy._

Deidara tried to steel his expression. It was still shocking how much it affected him to see the brat like this, the poor boy looked like a piece of raw hamburger that had been left outside in the sun for a week.

After effectively masking his feelings, he put his hand straight out towards the boy, motioning him forward with his fingers. "Get the hell over here so I can beat the shit out of you, mm."

Naruto growled, spitting out another glob of blood before aborting his stance and charging. Deidara stood his ground, spinning and striking out with his foot. The boy ducked under the blow, the older nin's heel brushing his hair, and countered with brutal open palm to Deidara's chest, the first blow he'd landed in the hour and a half they'd been sparring.

The blow sent Deidara sprawling slightly, but he was still able to dodge the follow-up hooking punch. He swayed backwards like a tree branch in the wind, the fist flying past his nose, but his eyes widened when Naruto stopped his momentum, and brought his elbow down on the older blonde's chest.

It was a relatively weak blow, but with the way Deidara was positioned, it was more than enough to send him onto his back.

Naruto tried to capitalize on the oppurtunity, but when he moved in to attack Deidara rolled backwards, kicking the demon container in the chest as he reverse-flipped to his feet. Before the boy could recover he was hit three times, two fists to his face and a roundhouse kick catching him in the side.

By the time he regained his bearings he found himself on the ground once again and, for not the first time that night, out of breath.

He couldn't even land a decent blow! Both of the attacks that he'd landed had been awkwardly positioned and weak. For the second time in as many days he questioned his choice to strengthened his legs instead of his arms.

It didn't make sense! Had the damn blonde haired bastard (never mind that he himself was blonde) been holding back the whole time they'd been training together? It was hard for Naruto to grasp. All this time he thought he was nearly as strong as his Sensei, only for that thought to be shot down in a single day. He couldn't remember how long he'd been striving to be stronger than Sensei, but it must have been years ago.

There was no way he could touch him, even in spars.

Unless...

Naruto scowled. If that was what it took to land at least a hit on his teacher, then so be it. He didn't concider this training anymore. No. This was too brutal to be a simple spar to help better him. This was a real _fight_. He knew the purpose of practicing so harshly, it would prepare him for a real fight with an enemy ninja, but he couldn't concider it friendly.

And if Sensei wasn't going to be friendly, then neither would he.

"Fuck this," he growled. Reaching down to his ankles, he unclasped his weights and vanishing, the heavy weights he left behind leaving craters in the ground. Reappearing behind Deidara he smirked when he saw that his instructor's back was still turned.

"Hah! I got you now, Sensei!" He yelled truimphantly as he swung both his fists towards the back of his head. They impacted one after another, and sent the blonde clay-bearer sprawling to the ground; unconcious.

Naruto stood there for a second, unbelieving that it had been that easy, before a smile spread across his face. "Haha! I did it! Yeah, how do you like me now Sensei? I kicked your ass!" he declared to the unmoving body on the ground.

Just in time for it to sink into mud.

"Wha...?" Naruto was able to get out. Suddenly, the mud exploded upwards in front of him. By the time Naruto realised what this was, it was too late to escape. A firm, mouthed hand shot out and grabbed the front of his collar. "Ahh, what the hell?!" the blonde yelped, before he was lifted into the air by Deidara, who was irritably glaring at the young blonde.

"Oh, umm... Sensei! Er... aren't you supposed to meet with the Tsuchikage later...?" he attempted lamely.

"You shouldn't be so cocky, mm." Deidara said, ignoring the younger blonde's comment as he reached into the satchel on his waist. Naruto swallowed. The clay-bearer smiled at the blonde evily. "Now tell me, mm. Who kicked whose ass?" he asked as he took out a small piece of clay.

The boy's eyes widened. "Oh, Shi..."

_BOOOOM!_

He wasn't able to finish the sentence as Deidara slammed the small ball into his abdomen, not even bothering to mold it into shape. The explosion blew the blonde back several feet away, sending him rolling across the ground quite a ways away. When the boy finally came to a halt nearly fifty feet away he layed still, obviously unconcious. Deidara sighed and slipped on his pair of fingerless gloves and walked slowly over to the downed boy.

He wasn't especially worried about killing the boy, hell, he was damn near invincible with the way he healed. If he wasn't this kind of training wouldn't be possible, it would be suicide. At least the kid was starting to take it seriously. A few days ago he wouldn't have risked attacking his Sensei like that, he didn't want to hurt him.

Deidara smiled at that thought. While most would concider him just being arrogant, the clay-bearer knew that he was just compassionate. That's why he was training him the way he was. When he entered the Chuunin exams there would be kids that wouldn't have the same compassion as him, he wouldn't kill someone when they were beat, or he wouldn't fight his hardest because he didn't want to seriously hurt someone.

It would get him killed one day.

A ninja can be kind, but not on the battle field. If he sent Naruto to the exams how he was, he would be sending the boy to his death. Not because of his lack of skill, shit, the boy could most likely annihalate any of the genin there. No, he would die because of his unwillingness to kill or be killed.

As Deidara reached the boy, he bent down and examined him. As expected he hardly had a scratch on him, the only remaining mark was the slight purplish tint where bruises had once been. The blonde clay bearer bent down and slung the boy over his shoulder, starting towards his apartment. They'd have some Jutsu training within the next few days.

As the blonde thought about the fight, he realised just how much he'd slacked off in Naruto's training the last few years. When the boy was five it looked like he'd be the next Kage by thirteen, but it seemed that the Tsuchikage had been right, Deidara had gone soft in the last four or five years, much as he hated to admit it. Well, that would stop today. He had eight months until the Chuunin exams, and he'd be damned if he sent the boy unprepared...

First things first. Tonight he'd find that old bastard Oonyoodou and see if he'd teach the kid how to block tommorow.

That weak thing he'd done earlier had been pitiful.

* * *

_Later that night..._

Oonyoodou was sitting in the bar by the time Deidara had finally tracked him down. The blonde had figured he'd be here if he wasn't at his house, the damn drunk. The man was the best Taijutsu master in all of Iwa and usually the nicest guy you'd ever meet. But kami, don't get him mad while he's drunk. The man wasn't a Taijutsu master for nothing, and he didn't have to be sober to kick your ass.

Hell, it wasn't pretty, but the Drunken Fist was pretty deadly at times.

So as such, Deidara took much precaution when approaching the larger man...

"What the fuck are you doing in here, yeah? Your on parole already, your gonna get your ass thrown in jail."

Oonyoodou swayed on the stool he was sitting on slightly and glanced at Deidara. "Ahh, fusscckkss offfff mashggot. If I knew whiiissshh of the trrwee of you to hit I'd kick your asshhh." the older man declared, barely legible with his slurred words. He glanced at the blonde a few more times over the rim of his dark sunglasses he wore, even though it was dark out.

"Oooshh, Deesshdara! I waassshh wondering whensh you'd brinngt ddat boy overshh. He hashhven't mashturd thash tashitsue yet! He looshks like shhhit outs thersh." Oonyoodou said loudly, finally recognising the clay-bearer. He laughed for no reason and took a big swig out of the nearly empty whiskey bottle in front of him. Through his big gulps he managed to finish it. Slamming the bottle on the table he motioned for the waitress to bring him another one.

"I think you've had more than enough, mm." Deidara commented, noting the three other empty bottles on the table. Not to mention all the shattered glass, which looked to be another three bottles worth.

"Ahhsh, don't worrieshh Deesshdara! I'll giveshh you shhome of shih one!" the man said jovially, putting his arm around the blonde. Deidara almost reached into his satchel for some clay to blow this useless bastard up... but then again, Oonyoodou was only useless when he was drunk and the Tsuchikage wouldn't like it one bit if he killed one of the better ninja in Iwa and not just some nobody Chuunin.

"Heeeyysh, waittersss, shbring mesh and my shfriend a drinsk." the man ordered loudly.

Deidara started to protest, but thought better of it. What the hell? Just one bottle couldn't hurt anybody...

Soon their bottles arrived and Oonyoodou shoved a saucer towards the blonde nin, filling it to the brim with the strong alcohol, his swaying body causing him to spill a large quanity onto the floor. But one would have to be truly stupid to tell the older jounin to clean it up. "Drinsshk upsh!" he yelled, downing his own saucer in a large gulp.

Deidara approached his own somewhat milder than the older man, taking three medium gulps of the liquor, savoring the tingly feeling he as the liquid ran down his gullet. Sighing contently he pushed his saucer back towards the Taijutsu master, who once again generously filled it up.

Deidara had soon downed this one also and the one after that. After his fourth saucer full he grinned slightly and handed the saucer back to Oonyoodou and said, "I'd besst be going, Naruto'ssh gonna be waiting..." He said trying to stand up.

"Nonnshense!!" Oonyoodou declared, shoving the now full saucer back into Deidara's hands. "The boyssh a ninshja!! Heshhh knows howssh sto look afshter himshelf! Havesh anosherr drinsk!"

The blonde shrugged, swaying slightly with the movement. "Hell, why notsh?" Deidara said, slurring his words slightly.

An hour or two later he was seen stumbling out of the bar headed for home, his clothes damp and stinking of whiskey from the large amount that had missed his mouth. His hand mouths happily sucked his sleeves dry of the liquor, but tasted a lot of ground as Deidara used them to catch himself during the numerous times he fell.

After the four bottles he polished off, it would take one hell of a medical team to keep the Chuunin that woke him up tommorow alive.

For all the time he was at the bar he'd forgotten to mention Naruto's training.

* * *

A/N: Well, there you have it. The next chapter. Now when I said Naruto would be strong by the chuunin exams. Now he won't be Super!Naruto, that can kill a Kage with ease. I mean c'mon, that's just unrealistic, even for him. But he will be insanely strong for a genin, probably around... meh, he'll probably be about what you'd expect from a jounin by the end of the exams.

Now about pairings. I'm not quite sure who I'll put with him yet. I was sorta leaning towards Temari... though I'm not positive. Tell me what ya think! Just some exceptions, No Sakura, Hinata, or anyone substancially older than him. Sorry to all you Tsunade/Naruto lovers. Thats not gonna happen.

Anyway, hope you like the chapter.

Until next time. Ja Ne!


	5. Quiet is The Moon

**Summary: **After the Kyuubi attack, Sarutobi realises that Naruto will most likely be hated if he stays in Konoha. Knowing this he decides to send Naruto away to an isolated village on the edge of Fire country. But the caravan sent to the town is ambushed by Rock shinobi and Naruto is missing. The Tsuchikage knowing instantly what Naruto is, sends him to live with one of his most trusted shinobi...Deidara. Twelve years later, at the Chuunin exams, a mysterious Rock gennin team has entered, with a powerful blonde shinobi at their disposal. How will Sarutobi and the rest of Konoha react to this revelation?

A/N: It's been a while, no? Heh, sorry for the long wait, I hope this chapter's length somewhat makes up for it. Sorry though if it's a bit... out of whack. I haven't written much as of late so I might be a little rusty.

**Shinobi of the Rock  
****Chapter 5:  
Quiet is the Moon**

"You call that a punch? I call that a _love_ tap!"

"Shut up, you old bastard! If I didn't have these damn weights on I'd kick your ass!"

"Ha! I'd like to see that happen. You've neglected your arms so much, I've felt little girls hit harder than you!"

Naruto growled and charged Oonyoodou again. He swung out with a left hook that would have nailed the larger man in the face, had Oonyoodou not reached out with one large fist and caught the punch. The blond cried out as the man squeezed, smashing his considerably smaller fist. The taijutsu master grinned before launching a left jab aimed for the blond's face. Naruto leaned to the side as the fist passed him by, grazing the side of his head.

He quickly brought up his free hand, ignoring the pain in his insnared arm, going for the solar plexus. Once again a grunt of pain was forced from him as an elbow slammed into his extended arm, knocking his punch off course and leaving him open for the open palm to the chest that sent him backwards gasping for breath. He wasn't given a chance to recover before a roundhouse kick sent him flying.

He groaned as he rolled to a stop a few feet away. He struggled to his feet and spat a glob of blood onto the ground.

Naruto had been training non-stop for the last two weeks with Deidara and Oonyoodou. The two jounin would alternate days of beating him senseless. On days he was with Deidara, the clay bearing jounin would work with him on perfecting his limited jutsu library and chakra control. Despite his reliance on his clay, Deidara was suprisingly adept at chakra exercises and jutsu.

But when Naruto was with Oonyoodou, like today, he'd further train his taijutsu skills and conditioning. Of course, this translated into getting the shit beaten out of him until he could barely stand. Of course, it didn't help that both of his sensei had decided that it would be further beneficial to him to have weights on his _arms_. This wouldn't be much of a problem usually, had they not taken his bracers away.

So now, every movement he made with his arms was sluggish and clumsy. Not to mention pathetically wimpy.

Of course, part of Oonyoodou's training was so-called "mental tolerence".

"Hurry the hell up, brat!" The taijutsu master grinned, "This style is supposed to be the _Flash Fist!_ Maybe I should rename it the _Sluggish_ Fist, just for you."

Naruto groaned. He did _not_ think that horrible jokes should be part of the exercise. But on the other hand, it did do it's job; it took every inch of his mental restraint not to scream in frustration.

Instead, he steeled himself and streaked towards the bald man, swinging with his fists. A few blocks and an agonizing punch to the jaw later, he found himself on the ground again, nursing the injury and blood streaking down his chin from his bitten tongue.

"Phhaackk...shit..." He hacked, spitting crimson.

"Kami, your form is horrible, you're _**way**_ too fucking slow, and your punches are little pussy taps." Oonyoodou berated him, smirking at the blond's current state, "That, and the fact that your not thinking before you make a move. I know I've taught you to go on instinct, but it looks like you're trying to get yourself killed!"

Naruto wiped his mouth as the bleeding finally subsided, his abnormal healing coming into effect. He stood and scowled at the affending taijutsu master. His taijutsu wouldn't be so horrible if they'd let him take these damn weights off! He could barely lift his arms and whenever he ran it felt like he was wading through water. It was infuriating how much slower he was with how much weight they'd packed onto his legs.

If he wasn't so restricted, he probably would at least have a chance at defending himself.

A sudden pain flared on the inside of his cheek and Naruto reached into his mouth and yanked out a busted molar. It was a good thing his teeth grew back, otherwise he wouldn't have any by now. He tossed the tooth aside and gave his sensei a dirty look. The large man just chuckled.

"Alright brat, let's call it a day. The sun's almost down and you got a long day tommorow with Deidara." He winked, "Genin exams are coming up pretty soon, you might just be able to snag one of those headbands. But you're gonna go through hell in the week before that."

Naruto sighed, "Yeah, yeah. I'm used to having you two beat me up all day already. Can't get much worse than getting blown up by those retarded clay birds all the time." He waved his hand dismissively. "It'll be easy. I know I could've passed that stupid Genin exam years ago."

"Of course you could have," Oonyoodou cracked a smile, "...But that's not what you have to be ready for..."

The blond snapped his head up at the last muttered sentence.

"What?!" The boy demanded, leveling a stare at the taijutsu master.

Oonyoodou's grin widened, "Oh, look at the time, I really must get back to my wife - or she'll kill me!"

With that and a blur of movement, the large man was speeding away, leaving Naruto coughing in the dust. Through his hacks he yelled at the retreating form of his taijutsu teacher.

"HEY! Goddammit, you could have the decency to take my weights off!... Hey, wait a minute..." His eyes widened as a sudden realization dawned on him, "YOU DON'T EVEN HAVE A WIFE YOU DRUNKEN OLD BASTARD!!"

* * *

The next few weeks were indeed hell for Naruto. If he had thought his training was crazy before, it was damn near suicidal now. The weights on his limbs were upped after each week, and now the feelings his limbs were always accompanied by a dull ache from the stress. He was only allowed leave from the things for an hour during lunch and when he slept.

Oonyoodou had been focusing on conditioning for the first week. Which meant more beatings for Naruto, and several delibating laps around Iwagakure. Normally running a few laps wouldn't be enough to work up a sweat, but with the added weight and the time limit that he was given, it would be enough to have him gasping for breath. Of course, the large taijutsu master figured that was the best time to spar. He said that the best time to learn taijutsu was when exhausted.

_"The muscles are tired and stretched," He had lectured, "When like this they're less stubborn to learn, and I can teach you things easier. Muscle memory is the basis to all kinds of ninja activity, and repitition is the mother of all learning."_

After that first insane week they'd started working on forms and technique. He had the wrinkles in his punches ironed out and Oonyoodou showed him how to get the best power behind a punch or chop - one of the more beneficial lessons conscidering his still lacking arm strength. The large man taught him a few more things about the _Genko Issen_, including a few more lectures.

_"The whole style is centered around speed and percision. You have to be quick, but controlled at the same time. When you dodge, don't adjust your footing unless absolutely neccessary, avoid the strike by as little a margin as you can, that's when the enemy will be caught off guard._

_"When attacking, move around as much as possible, but with as little effort as possible. If you can do these two things together, you'll be a goddamn ghost out there; untouchable and deadly."_

Naruto hadn't been allowed to take his weights off during a spar yet, but he could feel that he was tons stronger than before. He'd learned more in the last month than he had in the last year, and he suspected that his skills had been improved likewise.

Where before Oonyoodou would land a solid punch, they were now just glancing blows. When before a nasty cut would be opened up on his cheek, now there would just be a small, purplish bruise. Where before his punches would be blocked, more and more the older man was forced to dodge.

He could tell that Oonyoodou had noticed by the rare praise he recieved, and the veiled smiles that the man would display when he thought Naruto wasn't looking.

Though he'd grown greatly in taijutsu, it was ninjutsu with Deidara that had really grasped the blond.

In his sessions with the clay-bearer, they would cover a variety of things relating to chakra and the like. They'd start off with a few minor chakra exercise to get warmed up a bit, before they moved on to chakra manipulation and other related categories. He was slightly miffed when he found out that he had an elemental affinity for wind as opposed to earth, but both Deidara and the Tsuchikage had feverently insisted that wind was a powerful element. It was very hard to train his element, however, when they found that very few people in Iwa had the same affinity, and only the Tsuchikage had any knowledge of Fuuton jutsu.

Nevertheless, he worked with his sensei on jutsu they found in the library or just random things they would come up with. He'd mainly been practicing Earth jutsu, insisting on showing pilgrimage to his home village, despite the element being a natural enemy to his own. They were the hardest for him to learn, but he worked on them constantly.

Though even with his hard work, he'd only been able to master the _Tsuchi Bunshin_(Mud clone) and _Doton: Shinju Zanshu_(Headhunter no jutsu). Still, along with the other minor Earth jutsu he knew, he had quite a variety for someone his age. His most prized jutsu, however, came from the Tsuchikage himself.

The scroll containing _Fuuton: Diatoppa_ had been a graduation present from the Yondaime. Naruto and Deidara had come to see him after the younger blond passed his Genin exam (Nothing changed really, he just got the wear the _awesome _headband!). He had been a little reluctant on learning something other than Doton jutsu, but he'd quickly been repremanded, the Tsuchikage telling him that he'd need more diversity if he were to fight serious ninja.

So he'd studied and learned it.

He'd never been happier to have listened to the old man.

It took him a mere four days to learn it, and it's destructive capabilities dwarfed any other jutsu he knew, Doton or otherwise. It was quite the defense against kunai or shuriken barrages also, but it took too long for him to perform it to be used for that purpose. His sluggish handseals constantly irritated his blond sensei, and the man demanded that they dedicate an hour of training each day to the practice.

After his success with that jutsu, the Tsuchikage had told him that there was a more powerful variant, and the man promised to find it and give it to him when he became a Chuunin. Naruto could barely contain his excitement at that prospect.

After another grueling lesson with Deidara, Naruto lay in his bed, staring at the plaster ceiling. His weights had been left outside to avoid damaging the wood flooring, making him feel light as a feather as he pondered his recent training.

It had been close to two months since the attempted assassination, and over a month and a half since his insane training regimen had started. He was excited that he was finally getting the training he should have been, and even more estatic about the improvements he'd noticed. But still, he couldn't help but wonder what had spurred the sudden attention.

He supposed it could have been the murder attempt itself. Deidara sensei had been upset after that whole mess, but it didn't explain why they'd started off so harshly. They were trying to get him ready for something, and they had a deadline that they were working to; he was sure of it.

He remembered Oonyoodou's comment about a month ago. _That's not what we're training you for... _He shook his head, there was something they weren't telling him. He didn't like that.

Naruto sighed and rolled onto his side. He was tired, he'd think about it some more in the morning.

* * *

Kakashi frowned at the ceiling.

He was laying on a small matress that Tsunami had layed out for him. It'd been two days and his chakra still wasn't quite recovered, and his muscles still protested he movements he made.

It'd been about three months since he'd adopted his Genin team. He had really never thought someone would pass his bell test, and if he'd known it would be this bad he probably never would have accepted to even look at a team.

The first few D-ranked missions weren't that bad. He got to lay around a lot and read his book while his students mowed lawns or weeded gardens. Of course, he knew that those times would only last for so long before they started complaining, but he enjoyed it while he could. True to form, after a few weeks of meaningless chores, Sasuke had confronted him about their exports.

Kakashi promised him a C-ranked mission.

So next time they went in the Hokage's office, he'd requested one.

That's when the trouble started.

From the very beginning Kakashi could tell that Tazuna was hiding something about the mission. The way he kept looking over his shoulder, his unusual worry about being protected by teenagers as opposed to grown ninja; it was obvious as soon as they left the village. But Kakashi had waved it off in his mind, probably just a few bandit gangs or maybe some dangerous animals in the forest, he'd thought that Tazuna was just concerned about their age. He'd once been a father and having not grown up around ninja, the man probably didn't realize what these "children" were capable of.

He was wrong.

After the Demon Brother's ambush, it was obvious that this mission was _not _going to go by the book. After he had confronted Tazuna and had the situation of Wave Country explained to him, he concidered going back to the village, but the other members of his troupe wouldn't allow it.

So after a few more questions for Tazuna, Kakashi decided to keep on with the mission. This Gatou did seem like a dangerous man, but they were ninja and seeing how easily he was able to take the last pair of assasains out, he probably wouldn't have any problem with the other backwater Shinobi for hire.

...Then Zabuza showed up.

It had been his own arrogance that had gotten Miichi killed. The girl was always the quiet one, even to the point of being mute. Her actions though, were more than enough to portray her feelings - that had been apparent since the Bell test when she'd tried to kick Kakashi in the crotch.

Kakashi had heard of Zabuza, the so-called _Demon of the Mist_. Who hadn't. One of the Seven Swordsman, he was the youngest member of the group, and said to be surpassed by only Hishigami Kisame. Like all of the Swordsman he lugged around a huge, unconventional kitchen knife of a sword, and like all of the other members, he swung it around like a normal ninja would a katana - weightless.

So yes, the copycat had heard of the demon, but he'd assumed that the stories had been exaggerated, just some over-bloated myth.

Once again, he was wrong.

He'd taken the man too lightly, and the missing-nin had him on his heels from the very beginning. Of all the things he expected from the man, speed was not one of them. Kami, the missing-nin could match him strike for strike, while carrying a two hundred pound hunk of steel in one hand! So from the start, Kakashi was forced to go defensive. And as those who had trained or fought against him know, Sharingan Kakashi does not "do" defense.

All of his taijutsu, jutsu, equipment, all of it was geared towards speed, quick takedowns - it was ideal during the time he served in Anbu. It wasn't until after he'd been trapped in Zabuza's water prison that he realized that he'd been screwed from the beginning.

He was starting to wonder if these mistakes were going to become a habit.

After he was captured, he did the only thing he could think of, he ordered his Genin to run with Tazuna to Wave. Zabuza would have to stay here to keep the water prison active, and his Mizu Bunshin had only a fraction of the strength of the real thing. So, his students - being the obedient young Genin that they were - promptly... ignored him.

They refused to leave, instead opting to fight someone that could easily kill them in an instant.

But it seems that Kakashi is not the only one subject to arrogance.

Zabuza also made a mistake, he underestimated the element of suprise.

In a suprising amount of teamwork and strategy they managed to get him out. Sasuke, Sakura, and Miichi. His students were forced to save _him_. The bitter sting to his pride still had not subsided from the realization of that fact.

After he escaped, he made sure not to underestimate the _Demon of the Mist _again. And, after a few rounds of jutsu and using his Sharingan to his advantage, he was able to defeat Zabuza.

But it didn't come without a price. He knew even before he checked her pulse that Miichi was dead. She was floating in the middle of the lake, a long gash slicing her from the hip up and across the neck. One of the Mizu Bunshin had hit his mark.

Kakashi sighed wistfully. If only he'd been more prepared.

He was knocked out of his thoughts as footsteps suddenly came down the hallway. His calulating mind had not dulled nearly as much as his combat prowress, and as he gripped the kunai he kept hidden in his bandages he quickly distinguished the two different pairs of footsteps and analyzed the distance of stride along with the weight that each step carried.

His hand slacked and his posture relaxed as he realized it was simply Sakura and Sasuke, probably coming up to check up on him. They'd been doing that quite a bit lately, mostly due to the shock of losing their patience.

The door swung open as his bubblegum haired student stepped into the room. She made an attempt at a smile, but it was as much of a mask as the one that resided on Kakashi's face. She sighed as she slid down onto the floor next to his matress, not even glancing at Sasuke as he leaned against the wall opposite of her, staring out the window as he shoved his hands into his pockets.

They simply sat there in silence for a few minutes, and Kakashi took the opportunity to study his students. They were both obviously affected by their teammate's death; Sakura more noticibly than Sasuke. The poor girl had barely spoken in the last two days, and the small amount that she'd been eating worried the copycat Jounin. She'd always eaten less than recommended for a kunoichi, forever worried about her "figure", but the rations that she was eating now was bordering on anerexia.

Sasuke was likewise affected, though at a much more subtle level.

The boy had been burying himself in his training. When he wasn't guarding Tazuna then he was outside, pushing himself to the point of exhaustion. He'd been a workaholic before - driven towards avenging his clan - but Kakashi was worried about him pushing himself _too_ hard. He'd be out until sundown, and Kakashi would be able to hear his gasping and groans of pain before he continued pummeling trees with both his bare fist and shuriken. But on a brighter side, the time he spent brooding was substancially down, and he had grown a little more protective of Sakura. Not that he'd let her find out.

But despite the small upsides, the damage to the Genin's psyche was huge. Their confidence was down and Kakashi couldn't help but feel he had to help them somehow. He gave them both a solemn smile as he lay there. He knew the pain of losing a teammate - a friend.

After another short moment of pause, and it was obvious his student's weren't going to speak first, Kakashi slowly propped himself up on his elbows. "What's the mission status?" he asked, trying to keep the sympathy out of his voice. These children were lost and needed direction, yes, but pity would not help them.

"Tazuna is downstairs. He said that he'd cut work short today." Sasuke inspected his sensei for a moment, "When will you be able to walk?"

Kakashi sat up all the way, gently pushing Sakura away as she tried to keep him laying down. "I can probably walk right now, but my chakra isn't fully recovered. I won't be to full health for another day or two." He paused for a moment before he added, "In any case, we had better start."

"Start what?" Sakura protested, "Kakashi-sensei, I really don't think you should go anywhere in your condition."

"I... _We_ have to go and train."

"But...why?" The girl asked, "Zabuza is gone, and the bridge is almost finished."

He sighed. "The truth is... I don't think this is over. I probably don't seem very reliable right now, but you have to trust me on this: Zabuza will come back, and he will kill Tazuna. The only way to prevent it is if I can train you two as much as I can before that time comes. I don't know how long we have, but conscidering his injuries, it should take him at least a week to recover."

Sasuke scowled from the corner, "That Hunter-nin..."

"Was a fake." Kakashi scowled, "It must have been an associate of his that tried to fool us by pretending to be a Hunter-nin from Kiri. It was a pretty good gag, but Hunter-nin are trained to dispose of the body on the spot, so that it can't fall into enemy hands. I have never seen them take a body away from the takedown point to dispose of it." He shrugged, "Regulations are different for each hidden village, so it could just be a coincidence, but I really don't want to take that chance.

"If I'm right, then it'll take about a week for Zabuza to recover. First thing he'll do is come back after us. And if... if we want to fare better this time..." He sadly noted their suddenly sullen dispositions. "We will have to be ready. This man is dangerous, and his associate probably won't standby and watch this time, so you two will especially have to be prepared."

He sighed again, "Listen, if you two don't feel up to it, that's up to you. We can head home right now and issue a request to the Hokage to send more experienced ninja..." He didn't mention that it'd probably be too late by the time they got here, "But if you do, then you need to promise me that you will give me a hundred and ten percent in this training. It's last minute, so it'll be intense, and I garuntee that you come back with sore muscles and bruises. Agreed?"

Sasuke gave him a look before predictably nodding.

"..Sakura?"

The girl was sitting with her face buried in her hands. She raised her face for a moment and looked into his revealed eye. Her eyes were wet with unshed tears and the solemn look she gave him made Kakashi's stomach tighten. "I..." She sighed shakily, "I promise," She said. Her voice was shaky, but firm with conviction.

"Okay then," Kakashi chirped, his suddenly cheery voice not fooling his students. "Go and gather your equipment, unless you would like to watch me change...?" He pointedly gave Sakura one of his patented eye smiles.

The girl blushed crimson before she darted out of the room, muttering under her breath. Sasuke raised an eyebrow and snorted before he walked out of the room, the ghost of an amused smirk on his face.

As the door swung shut Kakashi dropped his facade and swiftly gathered his things. He sighed as he strapped on his kunai holster and grabbed the crutches that Tsunami had given him.

Things were going to get ugly.

He just hoped his team was ready.

* * *

About an hour later Kakashi stood at the base of a large tree, leaning on his crutches for support as he gazed over his anxious students. He stood there staring until Sasuke started to look impatient and Sakura started to fidget.

He raised a finger as he spoke, "Okay, so what is the basis to all jutsu?" He paused for a short moment, not really waiting for an answer, but leaving enough time for one to be spoken. When none came he said it himself, "Chakra. Chakra is the mixture of spiritual and physical energies. Both of you can refine your chakra with handseals to create what we know as jutsu."

Sasuke frowned as Kakashi paused again. "How does this relate to our training?" he asked, "We already know how to use jutsu, how is knowing exactly how it works going to help us in battle?"

Sakura nodded in agreement, "Yeah, I don't understand either, Kakashi-sensei."

Kakashi chuckled dryly. _What have they been teaching these kids in the academy? _He wondered. "Knowing how to use chakra correctly is one of the most important things a ninja could ever know, and can be the difference between life and death."

"For example," He turned and walked directly up the tree next to him, not stopping until he had walked to the base of a thicker branch, suspending himself upside-down by his feet. He grinned at his Genin's dumbstruck expressions. "This is one of the many things that can be done by refining and distributing chakra to a certain part of your body. Another example would be when I was fighting Zabuza on top of the water, but that takes much more practice."

Kakashi pulled out two kunai and tossed them at their feet. "At first, it'd be smart to use handseals, but once you get better at controlling your chakra, you'll be able to do it subconsciencely. Direct the chakra to your feet to stick to the tree. A running start will help at first. Use the kunai to mark your spot until you get all the way to the top of the tree."

Sasuke and Sakura both grabbed a kunai, but Sasuke was the first to move. He made a quick seal before charging the nearest tree. He made it about three strides up the trunk before it splintered under his feet. His eyes widened as he felt himself being launched away from the tree. He made a quick cut with his kunai before he flipped to the ground, his brow furrowed in frustration.

_It seems that the amount of chakra channelled effects the pressure against the tree... _He frowned at the footprint crushed into the bark about fifteen feet up the tree. _This could take a while._

"He-ey!" A voice shouted down from above. "This isn't as hard as it looks!"

Sasuke looked up, tightening his grip on his kunai as he saw a mop of pink halfway up one of the taller trees nearby. Sure enough, Sakura was sitting on a high treebranch, swinging back in forth with pride as she giggled.

The boy turned his attention to Kakashi as the copycat cleared his throat, still hanging upside down as if it was the most natural thing in the world. "Hmm..." He drawled, cocking an eyebrow, "It seems Sakura is the strongest in the group... and here I thought you were supposed to avenge your clan, Sasuke? Seems this little girl is closer to the level of strength that'll require."

A growl forced itself from Sasuke's throat as he grit his teeth, staring at his tree as if he could light it afire with his gaze alone. How could he let himself be bettered by _Sakura_ of all people? Why could she do it while he couldn't? It didn't make any sense. Was he not training hard enough? He pushed himself to his limits everyday, and here she was able to do this effortlessly while he couldn't even get a few feet up the trunk.

And Kakashi...

He dropped his head as he made the seal again. He would show Kakashi, and he would finish this worthless exercise, even if it took everything he had.

For the second time that day he concentrated on the well of chakra deep within his body. It swirled and whipped down to the base of his feet at his whim. He made sure to regulate the amount this time, instead of just focusing as much as he could. As he felt the slight pressure on the ball of his foot he released his breath and switched his grip on his kunai.

For the second time that day, he charged the tree.

He missed Kakashi's triumphant smirk hidden under his mask.

* * *

Later that night, long after the sun had set and only the full moon illuminated the darkness of the forest, Sasuke sat atop the tallest tree. He raised his face and took a deep breath as his shoulders sagged. He stared at the milky surface of the moon as the breeze blew his hair across his face.

Any trace of the angry, excited energy he had held hours earlier was now gone. He was completely exhausted, the only emotion he was feeling right now was a tired sense of accomplishment. He could barely move, and he had no idea how he was going to get back to Tazuna's little house on the coast, but he didn't care. He was content to sit here and bask in the moonlight.

He'd done it - _finally_.

He closed his eyes and let out a tired sigh as the realization sunk in. He had done it. He'd finally gotten to the top of the damn tree, and he was probably going to kill himself on the way down, but that wasn't the point.

He'd done it, he repeated it again in his mind, revelling in the fact.

A dry, exhilarated chuckle scraped it's way out of his throat as a smile tugged on the corners of his mouth.

He was getting stronger. It was just a matter of time now...

He gave the moon one last, long gaze, speaking into the wind as he did so.

"I'm coming for you, Itachi."

* * *

Two hidden villages away, in Iwagakure, Naruto lay under the starry sky. His hands were tucked under his head as he layed on a soft layer of grass. He was back in the woods, gazing up through a gap in the brush.

He did this a lot when he had to think.

He sighed, the moon was beautiful today. As the ethereal light filtered through the branches it left ghostlike patterns across the forest floor. The blond stretched his arms as he thought about the events of the day.

That morning Deidara had introduced him to two other Genin, and told him that they were to be his new teammates. This was something that the clay-bearing sensei had failed to mention, _ever_. He'd been talking about becoming a Genin for years, never had the older blond mentioned being put on a team. Naruto had figured he would just take missions with Deidara or by himself, never had he thought he'd have to collaborate, or otherwise associate with other Genin.

The first kid was about his heigth. He was a boy with spiky gray hair that went by Gouzen. He was apparently one of the better kids at the "academy" (something Naruto never attended himself - Deidara had said he could teach him worlds better than the useless Chuunin they had at that place) and wasted no time telling him so. He was very proud of the Kodachi he strapped sideways on the back of his black ninja garb. It was apparently left by his brother before he died and Naruto could tell by the way that Gouzen held it that he had little experience with the weapon.

The second Genin was a blond girl with gray eyes named Kirei. She had a great figure for her age and the first thing she did was try to flirt with him. She tried to get as close to him as possible and repeatedly asked him if he like the tight black tanktop she wore. According to Deidara she excelled at stealth, but at first glance he couldn't see how. She had a nervous habit of twirling shuriken on her finger as she spoke and tended to flaunt her... assets a little more than she should.

Naruto let out a breath. It seemed like everybody was hiding things from him lately. The Tsuchikage had been a little more nosy with his training recently, stopping by every few days to see how it was going. Usually waiting for a few minutes to watch Naruto get his ass kicked. The Yondaime was always asking him questions, asking to see how much his taijutsu stance had improved.

Deidara and Oonyoodou had dropped the intensity of his training a notch, which was somewhat of a relief: less beatings, more lectures. They told him he was going on a mission the next day with Deidara, to see how much he'd improved.

He guessed it was just some preliminary test before he started going on missions with his team. He hadn't been briefed yet, but from what Deidara had told him it had to do with taking out some crooked businessman. Apparently people were willing to pay money to have this guy and his goons taken out.

It was probably just going to be an easy, in-and-out thing.

The Tsuchikage had said that they were being paid by some big coastal town that had lost most of it's fish and seafood suplies because this guy named Gatou had seized control of Wave Country's suply routes.

He sighed as he got up to leave. He would have to pack light. They had to travel fast; the payers had promised to pay a bonus on how soon the assasination was executed.

Just a simple mission.

If only he'd known...

* * *

A/N: Yes, I know that it has been nearly nine long months since I last updated. The only thing I can do is apologize for the wait. I hope the chapter was satisfactory.

This chapter revealed a twist that'll probably take place in the next chapter. This is the longest chapter to date for this story, and I hope it was worth... well I guess the wait was a little long for this chapter to be worth it, but I hope it was as good as the previous ones.

Thank you for reading. Like always, read and review.


	6. Blood in the Water

**Summary: **After the Kyuubi attack, Sarutobi realises that Naruto will most likely be hated if he stays in Konoha. Knowing this he decides to send Naruto away to an isolated village on the edge of Fire country. But the caravan sent to the town is ambushed by Rock shinobi and Naruto is missing. The Tsuchikage knowing instantly what Naruto is, sends him to live with one of his most trusted shinobi...Deidara. Twelve years later, at the Chuunin exams, a mysterious Rock gennin team has entered, with a powerful blonde shinobi at their disposal. How will Sarutobi and the rest of Konoha react to this revelation?

A/N: Well… I'm not quite sure what to say, except once again I have returned from the depths of solitude (not really; but I've kept myself busy) to present you with another well over-due chapter. Enjoy.

**Shinobi of the Rock  
****Chapter 6:  
**_**Blood in the Water**_

Naruto stumbled once again as he leapt to another tree branch. Cursing to himself he was forced to increase his speed to keep Deidara's pace. There was very little foliage around Iwa, and the only place to find full grown trees was in the small patch of forest, though they didn't come close to comparing to these massive oaks.

They had departed Iwa earlier that morning after being briefed by the Tsuchikage and were just now entering the dense forests on the edge of Fire Country as the last traces of the sun fell below the horizon.

Pushing himself Naruto managed to gain enough ground that he was now keeping stride with his blond sensei. The bastard still hadn't let him take his weights off and he was starting to feel his legs strain with the exertion.

"So…" The younger blond drawled, cautiously glancing at his surrogate father, "Have you been to Wave Country before Sensei?"

Deidara slowed enough to shoot his apprentice a sharp glance before grunting and once again shooting ahead through the branches.

Naruto scowled and focused on his footing as he raced through the trees. His sensei had been acting strange ever since they had left Iwa and any attempts Naruto tried to make at conversation were shot down by Deidara's silence.

Now, if there was on thing Deidara was _not_, it was quiet. Something was wrong, that much Naruto could tell by the furrowed brows and constricted gait of his teacher.

Naruto had a sneaking suspicion that it had to do with the Tsuchikage.

Relations between Deidara and the old man had been terse at best ever since that assassination attempt. The Kage had been frequently visiting his training sessions always throwing in tips or taking one of his instructors aside for a private discussion. But although the Yondaime kept a cheerful demeanor on the outside, Naruto noticed the veiled anger and tension in which he regarded Deidara.

And before they had departed on their mission the Tsuchikage had asked to speak to Deidara in private. Whatever he had told the blond jounin had upset him, for that was when he started to act strangely.

The young Iwa ninja shook his head as he rebounded off another trunk and chased his sensei through the leaves.

According to the briefing it would take them approximately a week to reach the land of Wave, but at this rate Naruto expected them to cut that time in half.

The edges of his mouth turned up in a giddy smirk. His excitement for his first mission had nearly been forgotten in his anxiety. But as much as he tried he couldn't keep down the nervous shiver as he once again got the feeling that this simple C ranked mission wasn't all what it seemed to be.

Naruto shook his head to free himself from these thoughts and once again focused on Deidara's retreating form.

He was just letting his nerves get the best of him.

That must be it.

* * *

Later that night, after they had set up camp around a small fire, Deidara finally spoke.

Naruto was laying silently on his sleeping pad, staring up once again at the starry sky, wondering – as he often did - how they could possibly be so beautiful, yet hideous in the mystery that they wrought.

The blond sensei walked over and quietly situated himself on a stump close to the warm glow of the fire. He sat there for a long, solemn moment, the light of the flames casting his long shadow back into the forest.

"My first mission…" He started, then coughed as if unsure how to start. He shifted on his seat enough to give Naruto a glance, and the younger blond was puzzled by the dark look in his eyes.

Deidara shook his head and leaned back, looking at the glassy expanse of the sky.

"They really are beautiful… mm?"

Naruto nodded quietly, though he suspected the older shinobi was not expecting an answer.

"You know… when I first started with my art… they used to be my inspiration, ya?" The jounin sighed heavily, "Sometimes I forget, and I just have to come out and look again, to remind myself what I'm after."

A pregnant silence followed after that, in which Naruto was slightly scared to interrupt as he continued to worriedly study the clay bearer.

Deidara shifted and sat up once again to stare into the flames.

"…it was more than twenty years ago now… It started out just like this one, eh. My team was the pride of the village as rookie Genin. Our jounin was the nephew of the Tsuchikage, and the other two members came from two of Iwa's most prestigious clans.

"But we were _cocky_, ya. Fresh out of the academy we thought we were ready for the big meat. So we gave our sensei enough shit that he promised us a good mission, mm. We were to transport an important scroll to the Governor of Kusa, some kind of peace offering from our side.

"But…" He paused, his jaw clenching slightly. Naruto noticed that in the dark of the night the fire cast ghastly shadows across his face, giving him the look of a specter.

"It was a setup!" Deidara spat, "The exchange point was a narrow gorge where Kusa ninja ambushed us. My team was captured, mm. I was the only one to get away…"

The older blond turned and looked deep into Naruto's bright eyes. The Kyuubi container shivered as Deidara's cold look peered into his skull.

"Just remember, ninja are ninja, ya? In this life, people will die. And in this world of shinobi, if you are not the one killing, you're the one getting killed."

Deidara gave the boy one more solemn glance before he stood, dusted himself off, and leaped into a tree to start his watch.

Naruto sat in silence for a few long moments, pondering what he had been told. Finally, he called, "Deidara-sensei…?"

When he saw he had the older ninja's attention he continued, "What ever happened to your teammates; after they were captured?"

Deidara fixed him with that same hard look, and Naruto suddenly felt very, very cold.

"They were tortured for information and killed. Their heads were sent to us a few weeks later."

* * *

Three days later…

Momochi Zabuza is not a very patient man.

Some would call this a serious flaw in his ninja profession, as it made him impulsive, and made him unwilling to always utilize his extreme stealth to its full abilities. He'd rather charge his opponents and cleave off their heads than wait for the opportune moment for the silent kill.

This mentality made him unorthodox even among the other members of the Seven Swordsmen.

It also made him one of the most unpredictable – and dangerous – of the Seven.

So understanding his brutal tendencies and impulsive actions, one would have to be impressed that Zabuza had not snapped and killed his current employer.

The man's name was Gatou and he was as close to scum as Zabuza had ever seen. The short, fat man had been threatening the swordsman since he had come to work for him. His constant insults had been stretching Zabuza's short temper for quite a while.

But he had to get paid somehow.

Still, as he rewrapped his head in bandages and restocked his kunai holster he knew that this was the last job he'd do for this worm. After this he'd get the bastard's head and cash it in along with that particularly nice bounty on Kakashi's head.

He checked one more time to make sure his wrapping was secure before tying on his heiate.

"Haku!"

His fellow missing-nin appeared quickly by his side, hunter nin mask in hand. "Yes, Zabuza-sama?"

Zabuza grinned and popped his neck.

"We're heading out."

* * *

Sakura frowned as she brought up the rear of the three man formation Team 7 formed around Tazuna; Kakashi taking up the point with Sasuke stalking close behind.

The pink haired girl was not happy about being woken up so early and being forced back out to the bridge. She hadn't even had time to put on her make up before Kakashi and Tazuna rushed them out of the house, insisting that the bridge was only a few days worth of work away from completion.

So here she was, trying not to fuss over her sleep wrinkled outfit and having to walk at a painfully slow rate behind the old construction worker.

They'd had no sign of Zabuza or his associate since the incident at the lake, but Kakashi had warned them that he'd be back, and the bridge was nearly completed.

The maniac swordsman's move would be soon.

The group picked up speed slightly as they neared the bridge site. A good fifteen minutes later and they were standing on the comforting concrete and steel structure. As they advanced down the expanse of the bridge however, Kakashi noticed something was amiss.

He stopped and tensed suddenly, surveying the bridge with his visible eye. He fingered his kunai holster as he motioned them to come closer with his free hand.

"This mist… worries me." He said calmly, shooting them all a glance, "Be ready for anything."

For once, Sakura couldn't see the telltale orange of his precious Icha Icha book anywhere.

The silver haired jounin paused for just another second before pushing further through an even thicker section of mist. Sakura squinted and followed Tazuna through the haze, wincing as the thick, moist air dampened her clothes and hair.

The others cleared the mist a moment before she did, and Tazuna froze so fast that she ran face first into the back of his work-hardened shoulders.

"Oh, kami…" she heard the man choke out, "What happened here!?"

Fighting to push past him, Sakura was able to see what had caused the man such distress. The sight almost made her gag.

Scattered all among the last section of the bridge were the mangled and trashed bodies of the construction workers. Bodies were piled up everywhere and the blood had pooled together and was running over the edge of the bridge into the hazy water below.

The bubblegum haired kunoichi took another step forward and her foot came down with a crunch. She looked down to horrifically discover she had stepped on a dismembered hand, hammer still gripped in its cold fingers.

She screamed and fell backwards, landing on her back before she scrambled to her feet, trying not to retch.

Kakashi was grim, and even Sasuke looked paler than normal, holding his sleeve up to block out the rank stench of death.

"These men…" Sakura whimpered from behind them, "These innocent men were just slaughtered!"

"Zabuza's work…" Kakashi muttered as he coughed into his hand, nudging a motionless body in front of him. Suddenly the jounin's head snapped up and a kunai quickly appeared in his hand.

The jounin stood stock still for a moment, before a low, mocking laugh echoed out from the mist.

"Sasuke!" He snapped, quickly getting the young genin's attention, "You and Sakura take Tazuna and run!"

Sasuke scowled, "But-"

Suddenly the silver haired ninja leaped to his right, deftly deflecting a swarm of shuriken headed for Tazuna. He cursed and tossed the kunai at an unseen assailant.

"Now!" Kakashi raved, fixing the boy with a fierce glare, his now revealed Sharingan eye daring him to object again. "I'm not losing another of my students because they are too stupid to listen to me!"

Sasuke nodded curtly and turned to Sakura, fixing the frozen girl with a look and snapping her out of her terrified trance. He quickly swept Tazuna up onto his shoulder and dashed back towards the village. Sakura hesitated for a moment, giving Kakashi one last look, before chasing after Sasuke into the mist.

Kakashi pulled out another kunai as a deep chuckled rang out from the haze to his left.

"Hehehe… Kakashi…"

The silver haired nin settled into a quick defensive stance and called out into the mist, "Zabuza! If you want Tazuna your fight is with me, leave my genin out of this!"

Another deep laugh echoed in the mist, giving no clue as to the whereabouts of its owner.

"Hahaha, I won't touch your little toy ninja, Kakashi. I can leave the useless work to Haku."

Kakashi's eyes widened and he rolled quickly out of the way as Zabuza's massive zanbatou split the air over his head. He barely got to his feet before spinning and blocking a high spinning kick with his forearm and shoving his kunai into the large man's forehead.

He spun his kunai in his hand as the clone dissolved into water.

"Well then," the Sharingan user drawled solemnly, "I guess I'll just have to kill you and get back to them quickly."

* * *

Naruto peeked out inconspicuously from under his large straw bucket-hat as the two ninja leaped from rooftop to rooftop. He turned to Deidara and gave him a wink with one of his shadowed eyes.

The older blond snorted. Naruto had insisted on buying the useless accessory, claiming it was '_sooooo cool!_' Personally, Deidara thought it was ridiculous but he would have never heard the end of it had he refused to let him buy the damn thing.

They had just entered the city of Wave, after renting a small boat for transportation. As they continued on their current route, Naruto couldn't help but shoot curious glances at the small, dingy community.

"Meh, Deidara-sensei?" He asked, tipping up the rim of his hat as it drooped over his eyes, "Why is everything so… dirty?"

Deidara grunted in response and took a look around himself, "Hmm, Wave's economy completely relies on its trade, ya, so with this thug Gatou in charge and the bridge uncompleted, I'm guessin' all the money in this town's gone to shit, mm."

"So, why are we being sent over here to do it?" Naruto scratched the back of his neck, "I mean, why hasn't anyone else taken care of it?"

"Mmm," Deidara shook his head, "Fear is a strong thing. With all this guys influence I suspect he'll have a few ninja workin' for him too. Civilians are no match for a trained Shinobi."

"Wait, there's gonna be other ninja!?" The young blond nearly fell over with excitement.

The clay bearer nodded, "According the report it's mostly thugs, but a few ninja. Nothing too bad though, ya, according to what we've been told.

Naruto grinned to himself, nearly giddy with the prospect. _This means I finally get to see how I measure up in a real fight_, he thought to himself.

The two ninja came to a break in the housing and Deidara stopped Naruto as they leaped down into the streets.

"I can feel some Chakra signatures that way. I'm guessin' that Gatou's gonna be involved with that somehow, ya." The older blond frowned, "But the amount of Chakra I'm feelin' is more than anything that we should be finding on this sorta mission, mm."

Naruto's grin widened substancially, "So that means we get to fight some strong ninja?" he asked hopefully.

Deidara's scowl deepened, "Mm, well there was rumor of a few missing nin siding up with Gatou and his crew, ya. But either way we gotta complete the mission."

Naruto tried not to act too excited, Deidara always got mad at him if he was too eager, but he was near shivering with anticipation and – as much as he'd like to deny it – worry.

His Sensei gave him a quick, curt nod before taking off once more into the lighter forests between them and their target; Naruto right behind him.

They went on for about a mile before coming to a clearing in the forest where the first batch of signatures had been coming from. Deidara came to rest on a tree branch and quietly motioned Naruto to come closer.

Down in the clearing was a strange scene indeed. Down in the middle there was a young ninja with dark hair and some kind of clan symbol weaved into his clothing. He was holding a kunai and facing off against a ninja in a hunter nin mask using some kind of strange ice jutsu. There was another young ninja at the edge of the clearing watching the chaos with an older man that looked to be civilian.

It looked like mirrors surrounding the first young ninja, and the hunter nin would move from mirror to mirror almost quicker than Naruto could see.

He clenched his fists at the action and turned to Deidara expectantly looking to see his reaction. To his surprise the older nin had a look of disdain on his face and his single eye was narrow.

He glanced at Naruto and muttered, "Ninja of the Leaf."

Naruto snapped his head back to the clearing and for the first time noticed the haiete on the raven-haired boy's head. A swirling leaf pattern. Same with the girl on the edge of the clearing.

The grin quickly dropped off the young blond's face and was replaced by a dark look. "Konoha...!" He spat quietly.

He tensed himself, ready to leap into the clearing to confront the ninja before a firm hand on his shoulder and a strong gaze from Deidara stopped him in his tracks.

The older blond kept him fixed with his stern look for a moment, before removing his hand from his shoulder.

"Stay here, keep an eye on this, ya. If Gatou shows up you'll have to be the one to take him out. Do _not_," Deidara emphasized the word with a dark tone, "just jump into this fight like a dipshit."

Naruto scowled and continued to watch the fighting below, but nodded.

Deidara gave him one last look before he took off into the trees again. Heading towards the other Chakra signatures no doubt.

Naruto forced himself to relax as he watched the chaos below. The Konoha genin was obviously outmatched, and was starting to look like a pin cushion with all the senbon sticking out of him. Nevertheless, he kept at it, throwing everything he had at the mirrors, but to no avail.

The hunter nin dashing back and forth in between the mirrors seemed to be toying with his opponent, though. Naruto's scowl deepened as the genin left himself wide open, to have only two senbon slip into his ribcage, completely missing anything remotely fatal. Either the ninja was very bad, or very skilled to have only pierced the boy in fleshy areas.

Then suddenly the pin cushion boy seemed to change. Suddenly, senbon were finding air instead of flesh, and out of nowhere, the raven hair ninja seemed to pull out a substantial amount of speed; much more than a genin should have.

Of course, to Naruto it was merely moderate. But still the sudden increase in his fighting level was astounding. As the hunter nin moved to another mirror suddenly a fireball singed his back and burnt some of his hair.

As much as the Konoha nin had improved, however, he was still no match more the ninja in the mirrors, who seemed to have decided to stop messing around and was now dashing in and out of the makeshift ice mirrors faster than before. Suddenly, more senbon seemed to find their mark.

There was a sudden cry from the edge of the field and the pink haired kunoichi was suddenly rushing in as the raven haired ninja fell to his knees under another wave of senbon. The girl ran straight into the mirror like prison with a kunai in hand, and stood protectively over the other genin.

Naruto marveled at her stupidity as she was immediately struck by a swarm of the deadly needles. He winced once more as four more stuck her in the back.

It was hard for him to watch two kids being so brutally beat, even if they were from the very village he hated, and he was pondering jumping in to save them before movement on the edge of the clearing caught his attention.

There were two large men with drawn katana advancing on the charge that the pink haired kunoichi had abandoned.

The bearded construction worker was pressed up against the trunk of a large oak, his eyes wide with fear as the two thugs descended upon him. The two goons smiled and raised their blades to end the old man.

Before Naruto realized what he was doing he dropped from the tree branch and materialized in front of the man faster than the two wannabe samurai could follow. He caught the edges of their blades on the metal backs of his bracers and glared at them with shadowed eyes from the rim of his bucket hat.

"It's not nice to pick on an innocent man," The young blond drawled out darkly, ignoring the thug's exclamations of surprise. Then he smiled, flashing his incisors before a swift uppercut to the larger goon's stomach collapsed him over the fist and instantly knocked him out.

The other didn't have a chance to open his mouth before the toe of Naruto's boot found his lips, knocking out several teeth and throwing the man to the ground. As the man rolled to his knees a solid kneecap found his throat. He gave a short gag before he fell to the ground motionless; unconscious.

Naruto tipped his hat up out of his eyes and turned to the old man who was gaping in shock. The young blond gave him an innocent smile and scratched the back of his neck.

"Heh, are you alright old man?" He offered.

"Eck… but your… you've gotta help them!" The man blurted suddenly, shaking his head and pointing behind the blond where the other ninja were squaring off.

The pink haired girl was collapsed on the ground, seemingly unconscious. The poor girl had lasted very long. The raven haired genin was back on his feet but looked about ready to fall over. He had a line of blood coming out of the corner of his mouth and was clutching his shoulder painfully.

Naruto scowled and looked back to the old man, contemplating his choices. Deidara would be mad if he engaged in needless battles, but… he winced as the boy in the clearing cried out and a new senbon appeared, this one dangerously near to his groin.

"P-please!" The beared man begged. He fell to his knees and clutched Naruto's jacket as he wiped his unshed tears with his free hand. "Those kids don't deserve this and I am the one who brought this upon them. I can't stand it… please! Save them!"

Naruto's gaze softened as he looked upon the old man. He turned to look as another yell rang out and the boy was forced down to his knees again.

Making his choice, Naruto sped towards the ice mirror prison. He took aim, letting out a battle yell as he pumped chakra into the bracers on his arm, enhancing his strength ten fold.

And shattered the nearest mirror into pieces.

* * *

Kakashi panted as he slowly let his arm go slack, letting the limp Zabuza slide off of his bloodstained arm. Raikiri had done its job. Again.

The so-called "Demon of the Mist" had taken everything Kakashi had, and he cursed himself for not have taken care of the man in their first encounter. Now he was completely drained and losing blood from the multiple cuts on his torso and legs.

He took a few steps back and slouched as he caught his breath. As much as it had taken out of him, Kakashi had made it quick. He hadn't held anything back and had quickly overwhelmed the larger man. The only thing that had drug it out as long as it did was that damn mist, which was now starting to clear, it's caster having passed on to the next realm.

"Well, well, well," a voice called out snidely from down the bridge. "Seems like the Demon of the Mist was nothing more than a pussy cat after all!"

Kakashi turned and was greeted to the sight of a short, plump little man with small beady eyes and a slick white cane walking towards Kakashi, a large mass of thugs with various assorted weapons not far behind.

Gatou.

The small man came as close as Zabuza's fallen body and grinned sardonically up at the silver haired jounin of Konoha. The little businessman planted one foot on the fallen swordsman's emotionless face.

Kakashi scowled at the blatant disrespect.

"Too bad I've gotta kill you now," The crooked man shrugged, "But I must thank you, too. You saved me quite a wad of cash by taking care of this garbage." He reasoned as he kicked the corpse at his feet.

The man bent down so that his face was mere inches from the fallen swordsman's own. "You hear that, Zabuza? Your _garbage_. Look who's laughing now." Gatou straightened and dusted his hands, as if he'd just taken care of a dirty chore, before he regarded Kakashi again with a grin.

"Now you'll have to excuse me-"

The repugnant little man didn't have time to finish his sentence. There was a flash of blond and a man appeared behind Gatou, a hand already grabbing a fistful of long gray hair while the other held a kunai to the man's neck.

The long haired blond bent down and put his head next to Gatou's. The little man's eyes went wide with fear as the nin whispered into his ear, just loud enough for Kakashi to hear:

"Give my regards to the devil,"

There was a short cry from Gatou, before a quick splurt of blood erupted from his neck as the kunai sliced cleanly through his neck. _All _the way through. The man's stumpy body fell to the ground while his head remained suspended by the gray mop of hair, blood pouring down from under the chin.

Kakashi winced at the brutality of the act as the blond discarded the removed head with a grunt. The nin then turned to the huge mob on the bridge, still digesting their boss' sudden death.

Suddenly someone in the mob yelled out, "Hey, how're we getting payed?!"

That set off a chain of similar reactions in the group of goons:

"Hey, that's right!"

"What!?"

"It's THAT guy's fault!"

"Yeah!"

"Let's kill the bastard!!!"

The blond nearly grinned at their bloodlust. A sudden chirping overtook the mob's angry cries, becoming nearly unbearable as a large flock of small brown birds came into sight. Without warning the flock swooped down upon the mob, landing on the befuddled thugs and picking at them with their sharp beaks.

Carnage suddenly broke out as a man screamed as his eyes were picked out. The mob ran around in scattered confusion and fear.

The blond nin on the bridge merely widened his smile.

Kakashi's eye widened as he finally recognized the nin and he cursed under his breath.

Deidara held up one hand and snapped his fingers, uttering a gleeful "Boom!" under his breath.

The ensuing explosion rocked the bridge on it's supports and caused a conglomerate of blood and gore to rain down upon the bridge and the restless sea below.

* * *

A/N: No, I never died. And yes, once again it took me a ridiculously long time to update. All I can say is that I'm sorry. In the last 8-9 months I've moved, had sports, picked up a few more time consuming hobbies, and have had to worry about school on top of it.

Still, that's no excuse and I extend my deepest apologies. I'm not sure when my update will be after this, but I'm confident that it will be sooner than last time. For now I've got angry fans of my other stories to deal with.

Anyway, I think I did alright on this chapter. It's got nice length to it. Tell me what you think; it's obviously been a while since I've last written. I'll be sure to reply to all reviews that I can, sorry I haven't done a very good job of that with the last chapter. Kudos.

I'm Back,

Alterego94


End file.
